Henge Glastonbury.

The Truth Stage

June 2019

Live Review
Recently I was pleased to review the debut Henge album ‘Attention Earth’.

Replete with atmospheric synthesisers, hypnotic drums and beats, lush guitars and infectious vocals, the album sounds timeless and may one day be considered a classic on some kind of cult level at least.

I’ve seen the band on the circuit a few times and they’ve always been good live, but to see them at Glastonbury unleashing their cacophony of sound is a delight for one and all.

Coming on stage at 3 o’clock in the afternoon they open with the powerful ‘Unit of Power’ which had the crowds attention from the off.

What you have to remember about this band is that it’s not just about the music. The stage presentation is equally as spellbinding, for these are no earthly creatures but aliens from a far-flung galaxy. Of course the riveting repertoire is absolutely brilliant and to a large extent serious, but there is great humour in the stage presentation.The band’s terrific performance is augmented by cosmic dancers and stupendous effects that have the crowd roaring with delight. This multidimensional astral apparition witnesses tracks such as ‘Apocalypse’, ‘New Planet’, and the magnificently executed In ‘Praise of Water’ which has a moving underlying message that is subtle enough not to be branded socio-political. More a gentle nudge from caring sharing alien friends from several thousand million light years away would be a more informed way to describe this mini masterpiece.

For the grand finale the band break into the anthem ‘Demilitarise’.  As usual this massively catchy song has the audience chanting along from beginning to end, proving once more that this award-winning band is a triumph to behold.

If Henge’s veritable spaceship lands in a city or town near you, make sure you catch them at their chosen venue. It’s an absolutely fantastic show of five star proportions – miss it… or miss out!

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Bobby Krlic: Midsommar OST

Milan Records

LP / CD / DL

Out Now.

Bobby Krlic (The Haxan Cloak) score for the latest Ari Aster film ‘Midsommar’ was recently released via Milan Records. Simon Tucker reviews.

For ten or so years Bobby Krlic has been making some of the most atmospheric and unsettling electronica out there under the alias The Haxan Cloak so it is apt that for his first foray into the world of horror scores he chose to work with Ari Aster who is fast becoming one of the most distinct voices in the world of horror cinema.

According to the press release and the trailers, Midsommar is a folk-horror akin to the Wicker Man (as you can tell I have not been able to get to the cinema just yet to catch it) and it was this description that truly caught my attention as that genre of cinema and what Krlic’s output has been to date seemed like an interesting combination. Would Krlic use his familiar sonic palette or would he change his style to incorporate more noir-folk elements? Well the answer falls right in the middle.

For this score, Krlic utilises more strings than on his previous recordings but manages wonderfully to balance the beauty with his deeper atmospherics. He also manages to wring every emotion out of the listener making this one of his most balanced and complete works to date. Tracks such as The Blessing and Prophesy invoke a duality within the listener. These tracks are so beautiful and serene yet……there is still a darkness that hangs around the edges.

Like a highly skilled painter, Krlic manages to make pieces of music that have many layers with a central piece of instrumentation driving the track along whilst other elements help create a framework that blurs at the borders. Listen to Gassed. Here we have a piece that allows a Celtic string element to swing and weep whilst around it slabs of percussion eventually make their presence felt, quickening the pulse and injecting you with a sense of high anxiety.

It is the word anxiety that best sums up this score for even during its most tranquil moments Krlic throws plenty of creeping dread into the music. Attestupan has a core element of (distant) light yet the strings and synths try their best to bury it whilst A Language Of Sex manages to make the act of shagging one of the most terrifying things a human can do as he layers on multiple human voices creating a sound that is equal amounts ecstasy and torture.

This is a wonderful score. Bobby Krlic has made a piece of cinematic art that pricks at every human emotion. Midsommar is disturbing, tear-jerking, euphoria inducing and gut wrenching. If you are of a nervous disposition then please feel free to listen with the lights on but be warned for where there is light there is shadow and in the shadows is where Krlic places your deepest most fears. A thrilling ride.

~

You can find Bobby Krlic via his website  Facebook  and Twitter where he tweets as @haxan_cloak

Milan Records can be found via their website  Facebook  and Twitter where they tweet as @MilanRecLabel

All words by Simon Tucker. More writing by Simon on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Simon on twitter as @simontucker1979.

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Jonathan Sharp: Divided Time

Castles In Space

LP / DL

After discovering a batch of old photos of his childhood Jonathan Sharp decided to create a new work focusing on the period between 1970 and 1977. Simon Tucker reviews.

Nostalgia can be a ropey path to follow for a musician. It can create albums that create a fake Britain in the minds of its authors and their fans. Nostalgia can blend into nationalism and right now we as an island are seeped in the spitting rhetoric of those that want us to return to a non-existent past with the most crass example being those smothering the news and social media sites with this skewed view that World War II was somehow this great event where the UK showed “its strength” and did all, apparently, on our own. An imagined past also gives us the work of Pete Doherty so you can see why it is so risky. Yet here we are, trawling through the sonically reconstructed memories of Jonathan Sharp and thankfully we’re not presented with plastic images of coastal towns and an all-singing and all-dancing fake faced Brit. Instead what we get are the abstract and honest testimony of someone going through their mental library, triggered by finding a load of old photos of himself as a child.

Jonathan Sharp is a child of the seventies and this project focuses on the years 1970-1977 when he would split his time between his parents houses (Sharp’s mum lived in Cumbria whilst his dad lived in London) and what you get a real sense of when listening to this album is that whilst there were many moments of happiness during this period there was also a sense of confusions and of seeking for his true identity as a human.

Divided Time is full of well conceived and created sections that hark back to a lost childhood. This is most explicit in tracks such as Round Pond, Kensington Gardens, 1975 and Carlisle to Euston Train, 1974 where the main melody unfurls like a lullaby, catchy and memorable. These tracks embed themselves into you and become welcome earworms and like all great childhood songs they remain with you for a very long time.

One of Sharp’s most important qualities in the creation of Divided Time is his willingness to be truthful to his memories and display as much angst and uncertainty and there is childlike wonder. Over its running time the album allows for many darker twists like on the almost Mogwai-like Mews Flat, Kensington, 1974 or Bassenthwaite Lake, Frozen Over, 1976 which is suitably ghostly and unsure.

Divided Time is abstract and blurred. It is an album that is as distant as it is relevant. Listening to it you get a real sense of someone taking you through their deepest memories without them ever shying away from true emotion. A wonderful exercise in modern electronica Divided Time is a much need truth amongst the cesspit of lies that is our current state of affairs. It has the power to allow the listener to tap into their own memories with Sharp being clever enough to allow these wordless pieces to contain enough of his own personality whilst leaving enough space for the listener to go on their own trip down memory lane. I loved it.

~

Jonathan Sharp can be found via Bandcamp   and Twitter where he tweets as @DoctorineSharp

Castles In Space can be found via their website   Facebook  and Twitter where they tweet as @castlesinspace

All words by Simon Tucker. More writing by Simon on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Simon on twitter as @simontucker1979

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Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart 

MacArts Galashiels 28^th June

Return of the Space Invaders

Again, MacArts have booked well, bringing in a journeyman whose music career started in the late 70’s. MacArts the new epicentre of cultural significance in the Scottish Borders. Where clearly there is a market with acts prepared to overcome the previous problems with the geo-logistics of coming down to the Borders. Times have changed as MacArts continues to buck the trend of music venue closures elsewhere throughout Scotland and the rest of the UK.

 Jah Wobble is something of an enigma. A post punk bass extraordinaire who has far outlived the restrictions of that genre. Far smarter than the credit he’s given. He’s had his demons to face. A tough South Londoner suffering no fools gladly, maybe to an extent which has not always been favourable to his own life’s fortunes. Wobble is quite a complex character with a multifaceted approach to his music over the decades. Even taking a sabbatical to study for a university degree. Jah’s bass style and equalizer settings has resulted in a predominately heavy dub sound. More akin to reggae rather than the bright trebly bass acoustics of standard rock playing.  Many considering him quite a forerunner in a modern age. As we say in Scotland his “muckle” hands making the bass a perfect fit. An experimentalist of wide-ranging proportions who has never been afraid to bring in guest vocalists and musicians. We have seen a diverse and multiculturalist approach to his music making. Aided and abetted by fellow artists who have been happy to work with the Ex-PIL musician.

Tonight, MacArts’s crowd is likely to be filled with aficionados. The left field nature of the music has likely determined that. Think Radio 6 listeners and other peripheral stations all which have been more likely to play Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart over the years. The demographic swings and roundabouts bringing us together as a collective. At least for the next two hours. The stage is large enough to house all the respective musicians but compact enough to get close enough to catch the sonic vibe. I didn’t get a set list; this was my inception to the live work of Jah Wobble thus this is more a descriptive synopsis from my clean slate.  The light and sound work concurrently. Sound engineer David Coyle’s superlative mixing and engineering skills are greatly received and enhance the sonic soundscape. The acoustics of this old renovated church is of pure quality, driven by a crystal clarity and a sonic triumph for our aural senses. 

Coincidentally the show has been scheduled during the annual Galashiels’ Gala day/Common Riding week. What overlaps exist I can’t ascertain. But Galashiels is somewhat an enigmatic melting pot of differences. That’s a positive characteristic of this Border’s town. Standing here as I philosophise and dare I say psychoanalyse (Jah did mention Nietzsche at one point) about the merits of the show in front of me. There is a lot of goodwill and reciprocal appreciation on show. Acknowledgment is a two-way process. The music itself cuts a groove mixing modernity with neoclassicism. It sounds fresh and contemporary yet still hinges on a paradox of standard values and historical music foundations. It displays a hybrid of different influences: Jazz, Dub, Techno, Prog-Rock et al. A three-minute thrash it is not. Connoisseurs of the finest rock music, in its wider context, have to branch out, think outside the box and above all be tolerate. The music tonight requires that quantum leap. It’s has a certain complexity and requires our attention as our synapses fire in unison with the sound stimuli. Creating an atmospheric of appreciation and receptiveness.

Alcohol induced merriment blended with the heat of June’s summer cauldron culminates in high expectations. We are not disappointed. We get it that Wobble’s bass is a driving force but the drum signatures, often with up-tempo BPMs is a source of additional energy emanating from tonight’s king of rhythm Marc Layton-Bennett who has a proper full drum kit, not these half kits so common these days. And boy can he play!  This bass and drum correlation are indicative of the band’s modus operandi. The music is superimposed by the additional musical virtuosity of session like players, pianist George King and guitarist Martin Chung. We are exposed to elements of world music that far overwrite standard contemporary pop. But this audience is receptive to the vibes. And although not specifically “pop” there are dance elements within as we see pockets of the audience looking good on the dance floor. Further deviations from the pop paradigm are present during many of the instrumentals within the set. There is almost a Zappaesque jazz feel to some of the avant-garde arrangements. There are few songs played that feature vocals as the main body of the set are instrumental based. This in no way debases the performance, it results in a dynamic that allows the musicians to prosper. Guys that are simply at the top of their game.

Jack Dee is arriving in Galashiels soon for a night of comedy. But Jah’s deadpan adlibbing between songs is drier than a summer drought and he may have beaten Jack to the punch. Or more precisely the punch line! As Jah has the audience in fits of laughter at certain junctures. A diamond geezer he is. cSo tonight, we got music, comedy and philosophy and overall a grand night out. It surpassed all my expectations and by the end of the show I felt contented as the Stella had also kicked in. A grateful audience and another spectacular night at MacArts.

Wish you were here…

Graham J. Henderson

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Live Review

Let’s Rock  Southampton

Southampton Common
6th July 2019

Review of the one day 80s Retro festival by second generation Louder Than War writer Lora Canty, with acts at Southampton including Marc Almond, Shalamar, Neville Staple and Andy Bell of Erasure….her father may chip in some unwanted info from time to time…

For anyone new to the idea of Let’s Rock, it is basically a one day festival devoted to 80s Pop Music (Dad was mumbling on about it not being all 80s Music because it didn’t include something called Bogshed) that plays with different bills all over the country. Let’s Rock Southampton has been going for a few years, we’ve seen the last two before today. 80s Pop Music was revolutionary at the time and feels that this specific style of music stayed with us, with such a range of ages of people enjoying it. However, to my Dad, it seems strange that I enjoy his generation’s music when he never liked his parents’ tunes himself, when he was young at least. But I think that the 80s was a big time of evolution in music with synthesisers coming in and that could be why it has stuck with us through right up to today. Because it sounded like the future when it first emerged, has it in some way stayed ahead of things?

Me and Dad wended our way to Southampton Common and positioned ourselves right at the front for the start. Let’s Rock commences with something called “The Retrobates Party” – basically this is a musical outfit backing a rolling cast of singers (they also provide musical accompaniment to everyone up to Neville Staple Band). Out of these perhaps only the remaining members of Musical Youth, given their decent chart career, could look rueful up the bill to the likes of Johnny Hates Jazz. Anyway this section of the show broke down to:

Owen Paul singing Don’t You Forget About Me (Simple Minds) and My Favourite Waste Of Time; then Jennie Belle Star with Sweet Dreams (Eurythmics) and Sign Of The Times; followed by Belouis Some who did Imagination and another song I didn’t catch the name of; Musical Youth doing a good version of Pass The Dutchie; and (Elizabeth) Westworld providing the finale for The Retrobates Party with Sonic Boom Boy.

Next came Toyah. These following acts were allotted 20-25 minutes each, so a mini set really. Toyah sang: Good Morning Universe (when it was just afternoon!), It’s A Mystery, Thunder In The Mountains, Echo Beach and I Want To Be Free…Not really knowing of her beforehand I actually really enjoyed Toyah and found that she brought a good vibe and energy to the festival.

Johnny Hates Jazz followed, they played their big hit Shattered Dreams, but didn’t really hold my attention. Limahl from Kajagoogoo (whatever that is!) then sang Too Shy, Steppin Out (Joe Jackson), Save A Prayer (Duran Duran), Life’s What You Make It (Talk Talk) and Never Ending Story – Although he may not have the best voice in the world (Dad coughs audibly in the background), I did find that Too Shy was very nice to listen to.

Arriving on stage next in a curious suit was Thomas Dolby, who sang the following – Europa And the Pirate Twins, Hyperactive, Heroes (with moving David Bowie Live Aid footage) and She Blinded Me With Science. To my shock, this might have been the most interesting act of the day. It sparked curiosity in me about electronic music in the 80s, which I will follow up. It seemed not too different from electronic pop music of today, but also had that unmistakable 80s style imbedded into it. A very enjoyable 25 minutes.

I had seen Belinda Carlisle a few years ago and she didn’t disappoint, singing among others Circle In the Sand, I Get Weak and Heaven Is A Place On Earth. I found Belinda Carlisle good fun to watch, especially hearing Heaven Is A Place On Earth. She perfomed very well despite some sound problems on stage. The sound was a bit in and out at times, but those are the breaks with outdoor music events I suppose.

From here on in all the singers had their own bands backing them. Let’s Rock (and 80s Pop too, to be honest) can be a bit cheesy at times, but it became mile-high gorgonzola for the tacky Black Lace singing along to a tape. Hmmm! Anyway on to better things.

The Neville Staple Band were first group in this part of the show, from now on there were short intervals between the acts while the bands set up, but not for too long. Let’s Rock is really well run in this aspect. Neville and band played Gangsters, Johnny Too Bad, Really Saying Something, A Message To You Rudy and the Skinhead Symphony. My Dad really enjoyed this band and he’s always singing A Message To You Rudy around the house. Personally, I thought that they weren’t bad, but not really my style.

Next came From The Jam and among their songs were That’s Entertainment, Town Called Malice, Down In The Tube Station At Midnight, David Watts, Strange Town, Going Underground, Start! and they finished with Eton Rifles. Again Dad was dancing around (well he calls it dancing!) and really enjoyed this band. I have to admit they were quite good, even though I don’t like much of the music he plays at home! Although Dad’s dancing did annoy me!

We had a bit of a sit down whilst Nik Kershaw played. He sang The Riddle, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Wouldn’t It Be Good and The One And Only (he did write it!), while we tried to walk round the site (which wasn’t that easy). From here on in the sets were longer, leading up to the headline acts.

Soon Shalamar were ready to play, they really had good stage act and got everyone moving. They played Second Time Around, I Can Make You Feel Good, Night To Remember, Take That To The Bank and they were a great act to act to dance to! Shalamar provided good, catchy music for pretty much everyone to enjoy and they did.

Marc Almond was next and Dad told me his guitarist was from a band called Sigue Sigue Sputnik(?). Anyway he played really well and provided a real personality to the show. He sang Tainted Love (Hoorah!)/Where Did Our Love Go, Bedsitter, Something’s Got A Hold Of My Heart, Torch, Say Hello Wave Goodbye…very good I thought. My favourite song was obviously Tainted Love! Absolutely great act, really enjoyable. We even sang Marc Happy Birthday at the end!

Erasure’s Andy Bell came on stage after a brief fracas in the front of the crowd – I’ve never seen anything like that at Let’s Rock before and it was thankfully sorted out quickly by the security people. A word for them – they have always been polite, cheerful and helpful in my view and did what can be a difficult job very well. Back to the music. Andy played Who Needs Love Like That, Ship Of Fools, Respect and Blue Savannah. (Dad’s comment: I enjoyed Andy Bell’s set far more than I thought I would. Those Erasure songs are really built to last and he’s an endearing presence on stage, great stuff) I actually found that Andy Bell did a very entertaining set with some great tunes, I liked it a lot.

We were both tiring a bit by the time Billy Ocean came on stage (well Dad is really old), but he played a real nice version of Love Really Hurts Without You, a good Motown-like song and covered Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry….he was in good voice and the crowd seemed to really like him. We were tired at the end, but we saw them all! Billy brought Let’s Rock Southampton to a good close.

Whether you would enjoy Let’s Rock is really down to your own liking/toleration for 80s Pop in all its forms and tolerance of a few people being rather drunk and acting silly (but that isn’t the organisers’ fault – you would get far worse at other festivals I think). Overall it was a fun day with lots of good music and it is also reasonable value for money too. The fast turn over of the acts prevented you from getting bored and most of the bands and singers still had much to offer. The answer to why someone like me born in 2004 likes 80s Pop is simple – they just came up with some great tunes back then and still know how to perform them well in 2019.

Let’s Rock website is here

Lets Rock Belfast is on 3rd August 2019

Lets Rock Essex is on 7th Sept 2019

All words by Lora Canty (with a bit of help from Ian Canty whose author profile is here )

All photographs courtesy of Martin Shaw of LetsRock80’s.com 

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The Wasters “The Wasters” (Antipop Records)
CD | DL
Rel Date 26th July 2019

Finally!! The debut album from the Liverpool based The Wasters has after 10 years been released courtesy of Antipop Records, some of these tacks may well have been available in demo form for at least 6/7 years but they have lost none of their intensity as the band went through the usual splits, and line-up changes… having waited for so long, they could have rewarded us with more than eight tracks, but that is a minor gripe.

What you do get in abundance is a collection of tight, finely executed punk bangers in the vein of the Sex Pistols, now that is some claim, I readily acknowledge that, but this really is a stunning album; instead of revving up the beats, and screeching vocals, Wasters have resorted to writing a collection of perfectly constructed songs complete with edgy melodies and sing-a-long choruses. Opener ‘Three Fat Stripes’ has a throwback to the blues feel, yet is propelled by a neat lolloping bass line, measured drum beats and a “kiss my arse” sneering vocal, whilst ‘Another (Pointless War)’ tackles the usual punk lyrical fare with equal aplomb and even a hint of skanking in the breakdown alongside a wicked riff or two.

‘Anti-Freeze’ looks to be the bands get wrecked mantra, it’s a short sharp shock that live would keep the crowd bouncing along, similarly ‘We Will Never Die’ a real snarling ugly number that is again held in place by a tight bass, the perfect platform for the agonised vocal roar. ‘Drink Drink Drink’ could have Messrs Rotton, Cook and Jones wondering if they have been burgled, this could easily be nestled alongside anything on ‘Never Mind The Bollocks’; its got that perfect mid-pace chugging that the Pistols mastered, and vocal phrasing that instantly envisions Lydon’s contemptuous drawl.

‘Happy’ is the standout track, built from a neat riff, accompanying drums and then vocals into a headlong assault, that never stops moving… punch the air rabble vocals, we’re still hurtling forward, swirling guitars, clattering cymbals rain around; years ago this would have been released as the lead single, housed in a Delga Press sleeve and would have flown from the shelves in stores like Probe, Rough Trade, and Small Wonder.

I think I can hear Lydon calling the cops as ‘Nosebleed’ kicks in, trying to report the theft of ‘Submission’… but on top of that Wasters have injected their own snotty charm, making the track their own ahead of closer ‘Will You Be My Friend’ which is a heads down no nonsense kick to the gonads.

The Wasters have stripped things down to the essentials, they play traditional garage, blues tinged punk, clearly influenced by the Pistols, but with elements of later period UK Subs, but they do manage to bring their own style, a modern spirit and a shot of much needed energy to the party; with luck this album will bring them to the attention of a wider audience and should see them challenging some of those first generation bands who are merely going through the motions to secure a pay check.

Track list
1. Three Fat Stripes
2. Another (Pointless War)
3. Anti-Freeze
4. We Will Never Die
5. Drink Drink Drink
6. Happy
7. Nosebleed
8. Will You Be My Friend

‘The Wasters’ will be released on Friday 26th July 2019; an album launch is being held Thursday 25th July at Studio 2, Parr Street, Liverpool.

Support from The Crash Mats, (the wonderful) Piss Kitti, Sonic Rednecks, and Black Eyes.Advance tickets are available now.

The Wasters online:

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More writing by Phil can be found at his Louder Than War Author’s Archive

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The C33s are back with a bang after their last single Manic Depression which was debuted on Louder Than War not long ago and showed promise with it’s Tarantino style full on rush of mayhem from the Northern trio. Big Winner keeps it coming to show they’re not a flash in the pan, and if you’ve not seen em live yet, well get your fuckin’ shoes on and hit the pavements…

Since July 2018’s introductory EP (’48 Hours at Neon Palms’) and their live debut in October (Jimmy’s, Manchester), The C33s music has had an astounding effect: They’ve played some landmark venues and events (including tour dates with CABBAGE, King Tuts). The band have also picked up a record deal with These Bloody Thieves Records and signed with world-renowned X-Ray Touring. 

Their April debut single, ‘Manic Depression’, earned amazing reactions and wide radio play including BBC Radio 1 (Huw Stephens), BBC Radio 6 (Chris Hawkins), XS Manchester (Mike Joyce) and Amazing Radio (Jim Gellatly).

Not resting on their laurels this group are touring hard and get more incendiary with every live performance. Last time I saw them about the crowd were going bonkers and when they aired this song, it just blew up. Big Winner follows on from the excellent Manic Depression back in April and just hits you from the start. Produced by Gavin Monaghan at Magic Garden Studios it’s got the spirit of Lemmy running straight through it with that riff from Cav Green, and the backing vocals from Judy Jones are barking mad to up the sound, along with that fuck off bass from Ste Phillips. A cracking rumble that shows you there are bands around that have been taking note of the last wave of Northern bands that have lit up the scene. Fuck you average indie shit here, this is straight up dirty rock n roll taking slices of that sleazy garage sound from the likes of the early grunge scene recorded in dank cellars back in Seattle before the scene exploded. A breath of fresh air, punk as fuck. The shit’s hitting the fan…

Release Date: 19th July on These Bloody Thieves Records available on all the usual formats.

Live Dates:

JULY 

19th – Tramlines Fringe Festival, Sheffield 

21st – Blackthorn Music Festival, Stockport, 42’s Records Stage 

AUGUST 

9-11 – Celebration Days Festival, France 

17th – August Cotton Clouds Festival, Oldham 

OCTOBER 

12th – Neighbourhood Festival, Manchester 

16th – The Cookie, Leicester w/ Catholic Action 

17th – 60 Million Postcards, Bournemouth w/ Catholic Action 

18th – Dark Horse Moseley, Birmingham w/ Catholic Action 

20th – Heartbreakers Bar/ Venue, Southampton w/ Catholic Action 

22nd – Purple Turtle, Reading w/ Catholic Action 

23rd – Moles, Bath w/ Catholic Action 

24th – Bedford Esquires, Bedford w/ Catholic Action 

25th – Surfcafe Tynemouth, Tynemouth w/ Catholic Action 

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Words by Wayne Carey who writes for Louder Than War. His author profile is here and you can catch his  website here 

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Radio Europa – Community Is Revolution (Wormhole World)

CD / DL

19 July 2019

Sixteen months after their stunning To Repel Ghosts album, Radio Europa return with a new offering. Louder Than War’s Paul Scott-Bates reviews.

The core duo of Steve Leigh and Simon Tucker have delighted lovers of avant-garde for almost four years but it is with Community Is Revolution that they outshine everything from their past. Joined by confrontational electronic experimentalist Whettman Chelmets and Alec from Welsh anarcho punx Mwstard, Radio Europa have created an astonishing monster.

Influenced by addiction, depression and the general state of the world, the album somehow creates a cohesion that will attempt to bring everything together. The Radio Europa party is completed with the introduction of the two new members and the results are quite frankly, impressive.

What sets Community Is Revolution apart is the seeming unwillingness to compromise. There are no rules to which Radio Europa adhere, this is their own world but one that we maybe all live in. From the opening faux radio tuning of All The Devils Are Here the journey begins and although it takes less than thirty-seven minutes to complete, the depth of feeling and immeasurable passion that has gone into this project is often hard to comprehend.

Let’s not forget, this is D.I.Y. music. No costly studio, no big name producer, no record company behind it, just four blokes making a damn fine album. From the near ambience of Snowlines to the pumping chaos of Riding The Rails (featuring six year old George Tucker on percussion no less), tracks blend into one long episode that is difficult to abandon without sitting through the whole thing.

Something Beautiful is simply that and with the added voice of Adwaith’s Gwenllian Anthony the piece is lifted from this mortal earth and drifts away to Heaven before floating back down to greet the riotous intro of Warning Signs which soon dissipates into Chant For Peace and the calming voice of Yoga Satsanga Ashram. The false lull of peace is then whipped away by the throbbing bassline of The Ugly Spirit.

A largely instrumental album aside from the occasional spoken word, Community Is Revolution is nothing but a triumph waiting to be seized upon by a record label that could do wonders with its promotion but, part of the thrill of music like this is that it is released via smaller net labels keen on showcasing off-centre music and noise to the public.

Mystic spirals around in an almost hypnotic fashion before being awoken by the most horrifying manipulated cockerel sound that you could ever imagine hearing before entering Hell’s Waiting Room. The quite superb Cities Of Red Night is waiting to be discovered by TV documentaries and film soundtracks as it stands out as a true highlights of the album before two parts of The Unwelcoming Arms Of The Fascist Empire Wannabies brings things to a close.

Make no mistake, Community Is Revolution isn’t easy listening for the light-hearted but, it does reach those parts that other albums will not. Uncompromising contender for any albums of the year listing and an essential listen.

Video by Stuarturo.

Community Is Revolution is available via Wormhole World here.

Radio Europa can be followed on Twitter as @RadioEuropa79

All words via Paul Scott-Bates. More of Paul’s writing on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. Paul’s website is hiapop and you can follow him on Twitter as @hiapop, and on Facebook here.

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THE POP GROUP – Definitive edition of debut album, Y, out on Mute on 1 Nov 2019

Listen to remastered ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’

Y is an album which still sounds ahead of its time forty years on and it still sounds unlike any band before or since.

‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’ is one of the greatest songs ever written. 

Both are being reissued by Mute Records in November. Here is everything you need to know…  (GB)

The Pop Group announce the reissue of their highly influential and innovative debut album Y through Mute on 1 November 2019 – remastered and cut at half-speed at Abbey Road. The band’s landmark debut single, ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’, will be reissued alongside Y as a bonus 12”.

The remastered ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’ is available digitally now

To mark the 40th anniversary of the album, the band are releasing two limited edition box sets that include the original album, ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’ and two additional albums Alien Blood and Y Live, as well as an extensive booklet and art prints. A super deluxe version of the box set limited to 500 copies will include 180gm Inca gold vinyl pressings with two signed prints.

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Originally released on the 20 April 1979, Y represents a stunning culmination of The Pop Group’s crucial nonconformity. Preceded by a meteoric rise in recognition, Y firmly realised the latent potential of the group’s early years. From playing Bristol youth clubs to early gigs supporting Pere Ubu and Patti Smith to gracing the front covers of NME and Melody Maker, The Pop Group’s progression to the forefront had been swift. With the recording of Y, The Pop Group were to build on the promise of these earlier experiences and of their first recordings, delivering a debut album that transcends most, if not all, classification and one that exists in a league of its own.

Recorded in 1978, the Y sessions were conducted at Ridge Farm in Dorking, Surrey, an experience the band’s bassist Simon Underwood now characterises as “an intense and electrifying journey of creative exploration and experimentation”.

The album was produced by dub maestro Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell, with Y becoming his first non-reggae project. The group’s decision to collaborate with Bovell is emblematic of the risk and range found on Y, where tracks are adeptly moulded with reverb, delays, tape loops and a range of other studio treatments. The results corral all of the captivating mixing desk ingenuity that Bovell had been previously applying to UK reggae and lovers rock, making for a record that ventures into altogether uncharted territory.

As well as the feats of engineering applied by Bovell, the group were, as their then manager Dick O’Dell now recalls, “bursting with creativity”. The product of this creativity was drawn from a wide pool of influences, running from punk, dub, reggae, free jazz and funk to impressionism, chanson and avant-garde experimentalism. On Y these touchstones are channeled, disassembled and reconstructed in blistering new permutations.

The 10-track album Alien Blood is the result of The Pop Group revisiting the original 2” tapes of their studio sessions and recordings. This meticulous process has unearthed never-before-heard material, including the studio recording of ‘Kiss The Book’ and ‘We Are Time (Ricochet)’, described by The Pop Group guitarist Gareth Sager as the version “with the gloves off, all moves allowed, applied and approved”. The exploration of these studio sessions has brought to light the raw and skeletal elements that exist on Y album tracks. On ‘Words Disobey Me (Dennis The Menace Mix)’ the sheer force of the rhythm is revealed whilst ‘Thief of Fire (Bass Addict)’ exposes the track’s original velocity. Altogether Alien Blood reveals the life of Y before everything was finalised, exposing revelatory dimensions within these iconic works.

The Y Live album is an essential addendum to the original release, one that captures all the fierce urgency of The Pop Group’s Y era live performances. Comprised of recordings captured at a variety of locations including New York, London, Sheffield and Manchester, Y Live exemplifies what had proved so thrilling about The Pop Group. A snapshot of a time when the group were sharing stages with future acolytes including Cabaret Voltaire, Linton Kwesi Johnson and Public Image Ltd, Mark Stewart describes the album as a document of performances that were attempting to “paint the impossible”.

Combining the visionary lyrics of Mark Stewart, the convulsive rhythms and instrumentation of Gareth Sager, Bruce Smith, John Waddington and Simon Underwood, and the unconventional production expertise of Dennis Bovell, Y soon became a pivotal and epochal classic. In the years since release its relevance has stood undiminished; an accomplishment that has lost none of its fearless sense of ambition and attack.

Together this definitive reissue of Y, ‘She Is Beyond Good & Evil’, Alien Blood and Y Live affirms The Pop Group’s status as a group that have consistently stretched the boundaries of what is conceivable. With this extensive reissue one of their finest and most celebrated achievements is renewed and expanded.

On Y The Pop Group were: Mark Stewart (vocals, lyrics), Gareth Sager (guitar, saxophone, clarinet, piano, organ), John Waddington (guitar, bass guitar), Simon Underwood (bass guitar) and Bruce Smith (drums, percussion)

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Mute Press release introduced by Ged Babey for Louder Than War. 

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Grover Washington Jr – Sacred Kind Of Love
 
Soul Music
 
6CD/DL
 

Boxset subtitled “The Columbia Recordings” featuring six albums recorded between the years 1987-1996 by Jazz Funk legend Grover Washington Jr……..LTW’s Ian Canty hears the original smooth groover Grover strive for Jazz and Blues kudos, despite his great US R&B chart success…….

Grover Washington Jr was into his forties by the time of the first album here, but in a sense, he was still conflicted about the dual nature of his muse. On one hand, he had made the commercial breakthrough with his own very smooth hybrid of Funk and Jazz, but on the other, you got the feeling that he saw himself drawn to the “more authentic” life and sound of the Jazz and Blues that had first enchanted him. The Buffalo-born saxophonist had a stint in the armed forces before moving to Philadelphia to kickstart his musical career.

His parents were keen jazz fans and the young Grover quickly became obsessed by the music, so much so that his father brought him a saxophone at the age of 8. Learning at the feet of the masters (sometimes almost literally when he sneaked into Buffalo’s Jazz and Blues bars), the young man slowly developed a prodigious talent. As a result, he started playing professionally, briefly teaming up with a band called the Four Clefs before he was drafted.

In 1970 he made his first studio appearances as a sideman, but soon he began playing and recording in his own right. Having his first successes in the early 70s with his own mainly instrumental Jazz Funk creations on the Kudu label (the Mister Magic album was very popular, topping the US R&B chart), he then moved to Elektra, where 1980’s Winelight LP was a big seller and included the Bill Withers collaboration Just The Two Of Us, a worldwide hit single.

In 1987 he made the jump to Columbia and cut his official debut for them Strawberry Moon (the previous year had seen A House Full Of Love, the soundtrack to The Cosby Show), the first of the six albums included here. This platter found Grover deep in the Jazz Funk formula with guest singers featured on the song-based material. The easiest comparison one might make to the sound achieved on these offerings is the Crusaders’ single Street Life that was cut with Randy Crawford, driving funky Jazz chops topped with soulful vocals.

Monte Carlo Nights benefits from an emotional reading by Spencer Harrison and Jean Carne spearheads a jazzed-up version of Bacharach and David’s The Look Of Love plus the driving Keep In Touch, one firmly in the Street Life mode. A very good effort with a real bouncy charm. Washington’s cool sax blowing is best utilised here on the instrumentals Shivaree Rock and Maddie’s Blues and overall Strawberry Moon is a pleasant and easy-going selection.

There & Now, which came out in the following year, was a complete change in style. Grover went back to his roots and the album is in full-on Jazz mode on the eight lengthy instrumental tracks. Herbie Hancock was among the luminaries drafted in and he provides Just Enough with his mighty keyboard talents. Tasteful, mellow Jazz perfect for when just emerging from a torturous hangover. Grover is on good form, with a serenade for his daughter Lullaby For Shana Bly being lovely, gentle stuff.

The sad sounding Jazz shuffle of Stella By Starlight and the graceful piano and sax duet In A Sentimental Mood are also more than decent. Mental images of The Fast Show’s Jazz Club are hard to stifle, but it is pretty elegant and easy on the ear. One more for the hardcore Jazz fans, as it was no doubt intended.

Normal and more up-tempo service was resumed on third selection Time Out Of Mind (the title track is an entertaining go at the number from Steely Dan’s Gaucho LP). The Hip Hop percussive beats of opening track Jamaica see to that, a nice bit of upbeat Funk. Elsewhere there is a fair amount of Easy Listening style muzak (Nice-N-Easy being the main offender), but also some more appetising Funk stuff too. Fly Away is light with some prime slap bass action and the album’s single Sacred Kind Of Love has an ace vocal from Phyllis Hyman. Unspoken Love benefits from a cool and sparse atmosphere and brings the album to a good finish, but ultimately Time Out Of Mind isn’t quite up to the level of Strawberry Moon, for me at least.

His fourth album for Columbia, however, was an improvement, kicking off with a fine and Funky 80s update of Dave Brubeck’s Take Five and Grover getting a commanding vocal performance from Nancy Wilson on the cool breeze of Your Love. The self-penned Summer Chill is a smooth groove par excellence and Lalah Hathaway (daughter of Donny) shines on the soulful Love Like This. The vocal big guns don’t get any bigger than the Four Tops who guest on Til You Return To Me, with Levi Stubbs on top form this tune is a real treat. Check Out Grover has the man meeting Hip Hop head on with human beatbox from Doug R Fresh and Man Slaughter rapping in praise of “Mister Magic”. Of course, the man himself remains implacable, that sax going its own lazy way and the brew conjured up works marvellously.

Two years elapsed before follow up All My Tomorrows emerged in 1994, but its Old School acoustic Jazz sound meant it sounded as it could have been recorded any time during the previous 40 years. A step back to the sound of Then And Now, but for me, this just has the edge on that one, an expertly crafted example of the form. There was a sense that Washington made these hard Jazz/Blues LPs to show the Jazz critics (who always saw him more as an R&B saxman) just what he could do and how authentic he could make them sound, but he is relaxed and no doubt enjoying himself here. Washington is on great form, seldom grandstanding, preferring to use his sax to provide more of a guide and direction on the tracks where there are no vocals.

Freddie Cole, Nat King Cole’s brother, sings on two tracks I’m Glad There Is You and Overjoyed and also duets with Jeanie Bryson on For Heaven’s Sake, an excellent “late night” Jazz ballad. Nat’s shadow hangs over this record a bit, with two of his standards Nature Boy (Woooo!) and When I Fall In Love given the big band treatment. A satisfying listen for the Jazz-inclined, this disc comes with a bonus track in Every Day A Little Death, which is very much in the style of All My Tomorrows’ sound.

With the bulk of the writing on 1996’s Soulful Strut being done by Grover himself and producer Gary Haase, it is perhaps the best selection on this box and a good way to end the set. Kicking off with the neat title track, he’s back in the Smooth Funk field for the most part and thriving in it. Guest vocalists are again well utilised, with session singer Catherine Russell, who later worked with David Bowie, faring particularly well on the anti-big game hunting song Poacher Man. This also has some fine backing vocals from Bakithi Kumalo and Lindiwe and Ntombkhona Diamini.

Driving Funky Hip Hop powers Uptown and Play The Groove For Me, one hesitates to use the word edgy with such a laidback cat as Grover, but it is close. Bordertown is classic Grover Washington smooth Funk and some cool brass enlivens the R&B of Headman’s Haunt. The two bonus tracks which end up this disc, Heat Index and The Night Fantastic, are pretty much standard Grover, but wrap things up nicely.

This is not quite the full Grover Washington Jr Columbia story as he also put out a Christmas collection Breath Of Heaven and Aria, a more classically toned piece, before his death from heart failure after a television performance in December 1999. Space has meant that the six albums sit a little uncomfortably over five discs in this set. The “Jazz” LPs are the ones that are split across two discs, which does not help them make an impact. All My Tomorrows, a pleasing and cohesive effort, suffers a little as a result. I realise that commercial considerations have to be taken into account, but it is a shame.

On the plus side there’s a great sleeve-note from Charles Waring, who takes us through the albums in detail and overall this is a good set for people who like their Funk seasoned with Jazz and vice versa. During the 80s and 90s Grover Washington Jr was perhaps a little caught between the smooth Funk formula he had perfected and the pure Blues and Jazz he clearly loves, but he always sounded totally relaxed and at home whichever genre he dabbled in.

All words by Ian Canty – see his author profile here

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BELINDA KEMPSTER & FRAN FOOTE: ON CLAY HILL

CD / DL

From Here Records

Released 19  July 2019

From Here release the debut album from Stick In The Wheel’s Fran Foote who combines in a duo with her mother, Belinda Kempster.

If it’s anything to do with Stick In The Wheel or From Here you can guarantee an earthy and uncompromising approach. Honest and with none of the kowtowing to the regular pizazz you get with album releases.  This set reflects the passing down of songs that not only represent English Folk Music and culture but also the tradition of the family.  “Singing these songs together feels like coming home,” says Belinda as the duo trawl material passed down from Fran’s Great Uncle Ernie Austin, a labourer who sang songs related to his work and leisure – “songs you’d sing down the pub.” With the performances recorded in the living room and on location at St Peter and St Paul Church in Horndon-on-the-Hill, the pair run through twelve traditional songs from Essex.

They include the more high profile traditional songs – John Barleycorn, Dark-Eyed Sailor and Tarry Trousers may be familiar to even those of us who aren’t quite as steeped in folk tradition and culture. Then there’s the more obscure – Little Bugger and Female Drummer both emerging from privately recorded family recordings (and thank goodness someone had the foresight to make these tapes). The former is precisely the sort of lively cameo that The Young’uns would enjoy making a fist of with its little bugger (actually referring to a crayfish) and piss pots.

The stark moan of the harmonium adds a dramatic quality to The Sheep Shearing Song – conjuring up visions of dark clouds brewing and a retort to the oft idyllic view of farming and rural life and makes for a melancholy air to Dearly Missed despite the happy ending to this version. In particular, the fade of the instrument to highlight just the solo voices at the close of the latter is a smart move.

The set fittingly finishes off with a vignette from Ernie himself (“we wanted to include his voice on this collection”) and makes for a fitting tribute to someone who’s not mentioned in the same breath as esteemed song collectors such as  Cecil Sharp or Frank Kidson, but if not for the likes of Ernie Austin, our culture would be less rich and nowhere near as deep. On Clay Hill feels like  Ian Carter has captured something special: that singular bond that families have from singing together (and we all know about the Waterson collective) whether in unison, in harmony or taking solo paths. Not only that, it’s a collection of songs that have significant personal and emotional relevance and come sung with empathy and resonance.

Watch the video for Dark-Eyed Sailor from the album  here:

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All words by Mike Ainscoe. You can find more of Mike’s writing on Louder Than War at his author’s archive. He can be found on Facebook and is currently revamping his website…

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A Certain Ratio

acr:box

Mute Records

Vinyl/CD/DL

Manchester funk, soul, Latin, electro specialists A Certain Ratio recently celebrated 40 years together with a huge box set, ACR:box, released via Mute Records. Matt Mead reviews for Louder Than War.

The nature of that beast that is ACR have been an underrated integral part of the northern music scene since the late 70s. Keeping the likes of Grace Jones, Martin Hannett and Joy Division company in rehearsal spaces was the norm when they started out. Since those first hatchings the primitive beast has now grown into a monster groove of a machine, delivering pin point beats with just the right amount of whistles, slap bass lines and drumming break beats.

Previously released material with a sprinkling of new material is carefully handpicked across the board, 53 songs over four CDs or seven vinyl set. The content here is completely outstanding. Pioneers of their sound they occupy their own Olympic stand in musical history mixing the likes of Santana, Donald Byrd and Funkadelic for first place results every time.

Signed originally to Tony Wilsons famed Factory Records the band had to contend with living in the shadow of Joy Division, maybe that has been something that always dogged their path to ultimate success, or maybe I’m doing the band a disservice. Disc one offers their work between 1979 – 1983, the heyday of post punk. Opening tracks All Night Party and The Thin Boys, the band’s debut single, are not what you come to expect from ACR. Plodding bass, edgy guitar and serious vocal does little to distil the Joy Division comparison.

The rest of the disc thankfully champions the more familiar sounds we have come accustomed to. Afro-Caribbean funk and cosmic dub feature prominently. Waterline, Knife Cuts Water build on the deft change in direction with Kether Hot Knives weighing in at 11 minutes strong we see the winds of change gathering pace. However with highs sometimes there are lows. Their cover of Stevie Wonders Don’t You Worry About A Thing goes a little too far into the realms of slap dash funk, the sort of thing Level 42 have become famed for.

This step into cheese thankfully doesn’t come out smelling too badly. Disc two does features a few more forays into this 80s period. Golden nuggets are Si Fermir O Grido and Brazilia 6.10 from 1985. Powerhouse rhythm sections sounds like the band are in full on sweat box mode with sleeveless t shirts the envisaged apparel option. There is also another rewind to their debut single sound in The Runner from 1987s Greeting Four EP, possibly the band were still searching for their own trademark sound.

Third and fourth discs feature unreleased material with some dynamite output. Houses In Motion demos, a Talking Heads cover, has that distinctive deep back funk that has become part of the bands familiar sound. The aforementioned Grace Jones was drafted in to provide vocals on these tracks, but at some point the collaboration fell through leaving these stunning tracks on the cutting floor, which is a shame as the second instrumental version is quite simply stunning.

Final disc has the opening mystical chant of BTTW 90, Happy Meal could easily fit into finger clicking pop back catalogues of Electronic or The Pet Shop Boys dance floor numbers. Then in comes W.S.L.U. accompanied by a string section, the higher grade of funk / soul helps the band to stand out as the masters of their own craft, however, stripping down their sound to the bare bones offers equally stunning results..

ACR:box is a delve into the archives of a most fascinating band who have lasted the tests of time and are still going strong as a live outfit with Denise Johnson (Primal Scream) on vocals adding her own classy glamour to their ever impressive back catalogue. Let’s hope it doesn’t take another 40 years to celebrate an outfit of such stand out quality.

ACR can be found via their Instagram , Facebook, Twitter pages and their own website.

Article by Matt Mead. Further articles by Matt can be found via the Louder Than War author archive pages.

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The Goa Express

The Day

Stream/ DL

Out Now

Burnley five-piece, The Goa Express, return with a new single, The Day.

It feels like only minutes since Goa Express graced us with the release of their pysch-induced, baggy-flourished debut EP, Use Your Brain. It wasn’t long before that when they released their debut single Kiss Me. Despite an array of other academic and employment commitments and the introduction of a new key’s player, Goa Express have managed to record and release yet more material, with their latest single, The Day. With the assistance of Nathan Saoudi (Fat White Family), The Day could well be their most distinctive and unique release to date.

A sticky four count opens the track. For a good ten seconds it hardly sounds professionally recorded. Yet as the increasing dynamics of the track directly correlate with the bounding Lurcher energy of Goa Express’ new track, it is clear that such a chunky and tinny sound couldn’t be more intricately designed. James Douglas-Clarke’s vocals grasp you throat first, as the rest of the band jostle for sonic possession within the track, leaving you shocked that so much energy can be crammed into just over 2 minutes.

Speaking about The Day, Douglas-Clarke comments, “The new tracks are about moving out to university and getting caught for doing shit whilst there and also about the fake, social media platform of our society, lick arses and how everybody wants to pretend that they’re friends.”

Goa Express are only on the lips of praise throughout the local circuits of the North West. It is surprising how they have managed to stay under the radar in doing so. They don’t struggle for variation within their live sets, never failing to experiment with new songs and sounds. Frequent bookings and mid/post uni boredom fuels the unpredictability which Goa Express excel on.

The Day is another chapter of their growing discography available for your listening discretion. They’re probably bored of it already. They’ll probably only play it live for a couple more shows then fuck it off, only to be replaced by another instant anthem. The ballsy tunnel vision of the five-piece can be tasted in this latest single, and such an attitude can be quite repulsive. But on the rare occasion that the tunes match the ego, you can’t help but admit excellence, smile and support the cause.

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Goa Express as on Facebook and Soundcloud.

Words by Will Metcalfe.

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Skepta

Manchester International Festival

July 2019

Live Review

Skepta is a man in a hurry.

Finding fame as one of the prime exponents of one of the most cutting edge forms of music in the UK – grime – his recent album Ignorance Is Bliss hit number one with its cleverly entwined maturity adding a new layer of worldly wise wisdom to the key 21st street music. Skepta is one of the form’s key ambassadors with his clever, sparse, heavy grooves and tuff gnarled vocal delivery that is all at once captivating and enthrallling. Tonight he goes one step further and this album and the Mercury Award winning previous release of Konnichiwa have never sounded better in this highly imaginative theatrical setting.

Pushing boundaries, Skepta is a shoe in for the Manchester International Festival which enjoys these kind of link ups. The festival loves combining different disciplines into new wholes and the idea of the urban angst of grime and the lyrical celebration of Skepta couched into a theatrical dystopia is a magnetic one.

Billed as a dystopian grime theatre piece, Skepta took over an abandoned warehouse next to Manchester’s Piccadilly station to deliver a spectacular, mind bending show that ripped up the rule book. The night was themed out like a futuristic take on a nineties acid house party – one of those late period acid events that had that industrial edge to it with the metal sculptures, face paint and grimy warehouse walls backdropping the jiving throng. 

It’s rare to be in such a space these days. Back in the late eighties most British cities were full of these relics of the Industrial Age. In the 21st century they have either been demolished or turned into flats and it’s curious to be in such a space again. A real deja vu moment.

We are led in small groups up, what must be the last Manchester city centre road I’ve never been on, surrounded by purple Buddlia plants growing in their usual riot of purple all over broken buildings adding their Chilean perfume to the ancient city rust and broken bricks and into the black depths of the warehouse.

With mobile phones barred and the onus on physical and verbal human communication, the event is trying to make people embrace each other like back in the E era. It kinda works and there is the added thrill of being in a new environment as the rave room is quickly filled with gonzoid dancers shaking to… playing tunes that are being pumped from a moving PA that is blasting the music to and fro across the roof as it moved from one end of the ceiling to the other. It’s fantastically disorientating as the speakers slide across the roof and the mixture of the ancient ghost damp and modern sweat creates a heady brew before the side doors are opened and the 900 strong audience are ushered into the room specially constructed for the Skepta set.

Like the set of Bladerunner or one of those proto dystopian sci fi films, the set is a hi tech tower built into the middle of the room with Skepta running around one of the passageways clinging onto the pulsating high decibel structure. The light show throbs from the tower with incredible images of faces and ghost like images flashing full dayglo.

Skepta’s word flow is immaculate charismatic and the sound is crystal clear and perfect with the heavy grooves shaking the building, enjoying the space. The kick drum is really kicking and the other drum parts are cutting through to create perfect beats for dancing with each set of grooves switching rhythm and speed and propelling the packed crowd into different levels of frenzy.

It’s a stunning performance. 

A dark energy infuses the room along with the addictive beats. It has a real edge and a perfect dislocation of the senses but also a direct delivery and a fierce emotive delivery that chews the words into new shapes and meanings.

Skepta is a delivery from the frontline and a word heavy depiction of the modern British city with all his complex rhythms, fascinating pulses and perfect word play. He is also restless. Modern music demands modern ideas. It’s always great to see someone deconstruct the cliches of live performance and what may have not have worked is a resounding and powerful victory for Skepta, Manchester International Festival and for pop culture itself.

The post Skepta :: DYSTOPIA987 @ Manchester International Festival : Live Review appeared first on Louder Than War.

TONY BANKS: BANKS VAULTS, THE ALBUMS 1979-1995

7CD / DVD

Cherry Red Records

Released 19 July  2019

Cherry Red come up trumps with a thorough box set that gathers the bulk of the solo output of Genesis keyboard man Tony Banks.

Anthony George Banks is an oft-quoted major player when it comes to Prog Rock keyboard giants. Not as flamboyant as Emerson or Wakeman yet the one figure who has remained a constant in the Genesis story and who, for many, is the key member of the groundbreaking band.

Like many before and since, the ‘solo’ outlet always proved a strong pull and 1979’s A Curious Feeling saw Banks (and Mike Rutherford) given a break from the Genesis machine while Phil tried to sort personal issues, to explore that very avenue. With hindsight, it’s perhaps the one album that fans will return to and pick as the gem in his solo output. One that placed an emphasis on the sort of rich keyboard textures he’s employed on Genesis’ ‘’’and then there were three… the year previously. In particular, The Waters Of Lethe instrumental combined his verging on classical piano playing with grand swooping banks of synth.  As a songwriter, he’d displayed his chops with the day job, but the title track and the lead single For A While were both as impressive as he’d produced while Somebody Else’s Dream was a real stomping effort and perhaps the pick for singer Kim Beacon.  The instrumental section that makes up the second half of You is filled with uplifting latter-day Genesis styled pomp and although Genesis fans in the main enjoyed the album although the lack of commercial success or critical acclaim led to Banks not sticking and trying to twist the formula.

The Fugitive that came four years later, in hindsight is more of a period piece. Rooted in many of the Eighties synth/keyboard and drum sounds, Banks also took on the vocal duties (mirroring Rutherford on Acting Very Strange). “A strong instrumental album but stark” is his own pretty fair judgement even with some contributions for Genesis live guitarist Daryl Stuermer. While choosing This Is Love as a single can’t have done too much to help matters, a couple of quirky instrumentals in Charm and Thirty Three’s were the pick and also gave an indication of the sort of sounds he would bring to Genesis albums of the time. Despite the attempt to rock things up a bit with At The Edge Of Night, closing track, Moving Under would have been interesting given the chance to develop in the three-man Genesis format. You can see the end easily develop into a prolonged instrumental that Mike and Phil might have got their teeth into. As a vocalist though, the best that could be said was that at least Banks gave it a go.

So where next? The appeal of writing film soundtracks led to The Wicked Lady – Michael Winner’s tongue in cheek remake of the highway robbery Margaret Lockwood classic, titillated up a bit and with a Tony Banks orchestrated soundtrack. The album includes some relatively stripped back versions of some of the themes, but may have been more memorable for its topless whip fight scene… And some of us went to simply appreciate the Banks soundtrack (same of Deathwish II another of Winners, music of course by Jimmy Page). Further dabbles in the soundtrack pool  with Quicksilver and Lorca And The Outlaws included his first of a couple of forays with Fish – then of Marillion – of which many saw as a something of a desperate measure in jumping into bed (not literally of course) with someone whose initial appeal lay strictly in the Genesis soundalike  field. Shortcut To Somewhere isn’t a bad track though and at least Fish sounds up for the challenge despite a few self consciously clichéd lines.  The Soundtracks collection makes up the fourth disc of the set while plans for world domination a la Uncle Phil were made.

The plan led to Banks continuing to toy with trying to find a breakthrough now that his pal Phil was an international solo star, Banks followed the Rutherford template of setting himself up as part of a band. Bankstatement became the band brand built on a sort of Curious Feeling/Fugitive core as Banks joined forces with Alistair Gordon and Jayney Klimek and introduced something a little edgier with Steve Hillage playing the guitar (not that you’d really notice much aside from his jagged intro to A House Needs A Roof) ) and coproducing but even his reputation couldn’t push Banks towards the glare of the spotlight.

By the time we hit Still, the idea of using different singers makes it interesting to hear the collaborations with Fish to get a hint of how the big man might have sounded with Genesis. Another Murder Of A Day on the darker side and no doubting that Fish gives the chance of playing with one of his heroes his best shot. Musically Banks uses the opportunity to allow himself some head on an extended piece that turned out to be the most successful work not only on the album but one that would easily make a ‘best of Tony Banks’ shortlist. The Nik Kershaw songs inevitably sound like Nik Kershaw songs – his vocal a more refined version of Banks’ own and by now you get the impression that although these are nice songs, Banks was clutching at straws somewhat in perhaps not knowing how best to present them. It’s surprising that the idea hadn’t occurred that with a tweak some of the electro-synth boppiness could easily be Eurovision fodder if that’s not too insulting! The different vocalists come with varying degrees of success and not even Stuermer, Pino Palladino or engineer Nick Davis can provide enough magic to an album that in hindsight and with his legacy, seems to be lacking some instrumental clout.

Strictly Inc was Bank’s 1995 attempt at another band project – remaining incognito and hiding his name is the idea behind any preconceptions that might tar his work. Again, dipping his hand into the lucky dip of singers and coming up with Wang Chung’s Jack Hues, there’s a nice nod to the first Genesis album that contains The Serpent – here Banks comes out with The Serpent Said – but again the songs are almost instantly recognisable by now as solo Tony Banks and not really challenging the Collins/Rutherford solo successes. At least he threw caution to the wind with the An Island In The Darkness opus that combines Banks’ aptitude for classical composition and merging with the rock and pop field. A piece that weaves and winds through various piano-based passages in the best traditions of the likes of One For The Vines, it might have been a Genesis classic in the making if he’d not held it over for Strictly Inc.

Looking at the bigger picture of the Genesis members solo careers, the immediate and unexpected success of the Collins solo work (much to Bank’s annoyance – you wonder how serious to take the  “we wanted him to do well, not that well” comment) and eventually with Rutherford finding a more appealing MOR niche with his Mike And The Mechanics group venture buoyed by the, all too elusive for Banks, high profile hit single. Banks was never going to be a pop star, maybe a songwriter which harked back to the ambitions of the fledgeling Genesis, but more as a composer as he found with the 2004 classical album Seven, 2012’ Six Pieces For Orchestra and 2018’s Five saw him at his most comfortable.

A separate DVD comes with the set that gathers all the promotional videos over the sixteen-year period. Never very comfortable in the video arena (or with live albums for that matter – his nonchalance over the recent reissue of the landmark Seconds Out album quite difficult to comprehend), it’s fair to say the phrase ‘fish out of water’ springs to mind watching Tony make his way awkwardly lip-syncing through the This Is Love promo while  he’s filmed sporting the famous green satin Wind & Wuthering tour jacket in For A While although the Butch & Sundance flavour of Shortcut To Somewhere with Fish at least they seem to be having some soft-focused fun.

So Mr B seems to have accepted his lot and according to a recent PROG magazine interview he’s keeping busy with some golf, tennis and gardening – entertaining himself – and despite a patchy solo career, there’s no doubt his contribution and influence in the progressive field.

Watch the video of For A While from the A Curious Feeling album:

Tony Banks  online:

Website, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

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All words by Mike Ainscoe. You can find more of Mike’s writing on Louder Than War at his author’s archive. He can be found on Facebook and is currently revamping his website…

The post Tony Banks: Banks Vaults, The albums 1979-1995 – album review appeared first on Louder Than War.

The Co-Operators And Friends – Rhythms From The Kitchen Sink

Waggle Dance Records

Vinyl/DL

Released 16th July 2019

New album by the Bristol 11 piece Reggae aggregation, with a lot of Jamaican Dub, Ska and Rocksteady influences……Ian Canty gets down to the old school sound that’s been given a vital shot of youthful energy

It certainly isn’t a fluke that the Co-Operators hail from Bristol, one of the key UK strongholds in Dub Reggae culture. They seem to be on a mission to put their own 21st-century spin on the classic JA Roots/Dub sound. Less of a band in the traditional sense, more of a crack set of musicians in the Aggravators/Revolutionaries mould providing backing a selection of cool and sweetly voiced singers. It certainly works very well on new LP Rhythms From The Kitchen Sink, which has some good tunes allied to fine vocal and instrumental performances. There’s no doubt that there is a certain amount of being indebted to Jamaica’s production greats in the sound, the Co-Operators admit as much, but it is not at the expense of individuality and some of the singers have an unmistakable British twang, taking it far away from being a mere tribute.

Well, let us have a look at what’s aboard. Tonight by Joe Yorke And The Eastonian Singers opens up the LP, with a high voice and cool Roots Reggae lilt which is delightfully played too. Sounds totally authentically produced, timeless and a real steady mid-paced groover. It’s lovely and a nice way to get things started. Next follows Beanie with her only contribution The Rentman. This is much faster than the previous tune, speedy skanking with a slightly northern accented female vocal. This is upbeat and very danceable and the song has an apt message about the thieves of money and time in this life. There’s some nice guitar on this one too, cool instrumental touches abound.

Perkie follows on with the first of her two vocal cuts Skylarking. This one is more in a deeper Dub/Augustus Pablo melodica mode, sporting a tight rhythm and another good vocal here, with some great heavy-duty bass-heavy. There’s a good use of drop out, it goes nicely down to just bass and voice with some evocative blasts of melodica. From some reason it makes me think of the classic TV series Callan’s theme tune!

Joe Yorke returns with Murder At Midnight, which has a mid-paced militant Roots feel, rallying against the unfairness in modern life. Some good Woodblock action! Neat production work again helps a song with a memorable chorus. Kitma only voices one track here, a shame as I would like to have heard more. Her Wild Animal again references the Roots sound. The bass carries the load (as it should and), some nice Dub effects are utilised as well as some ace vocals. A powerful rhythm drives along this sad song about city life and its constraints on freedom. There’s some smart and subtle horn work on this track too.

As we move onto the second half of Rhythms…. the Basque Brass Thunder Band show their floating Jazz chops on The Revival. Bit of a “spy theme” Reggae sound, with fast percussion and rhythm. A cool instrumental which gives one a good view of the craftsmanship at work under the vocals. Joe Yorke scores again with Under Heavy Manners, which has a smooth and sunny mid-70s Pop Reggae feel. This one is nice because it gives the guitar some space to expand – don’t worry it’s not HM-soloing, all very tastefully done. Perkie’s second and final track Crazy Woman is another goodie. A simple piano and voice intro gives way when a tight skanking Reggae rhythm kicks in. This leads up to a sad love song of betrayal, which Perkie furnishes with a soulful and touching vocal.

Spacey Dub effects enliven Chloe Lang’s deep Roots style All My Days and Joe Yorke And The Eastonian Singers finish the LP with Judgement Tree. The organ is strongly featured on this one, endowing this high voiced sweet vocal tune a faint feeling of an updated version of ’69 Skinhead Reggae.

Certainly authentic, the Co-Operators and their cohorts here betray their obvious love of 70s Dub and Reggae, but manage to equip their efforts with songs of real feeling and character. Rhythms From The Kitchen Sink is an ultimately satisfying diversion that breathes fresh life into that Roots sound of the mid-1970s. Overall this is a very promising debut record, made by people with a real love for classic Reggae music and a feel for what made that 70s/80s era so good. It’s particularly great to see young singers and players are taking up the baton from a vital time in Reggae history and making something new from it. Well worth your support and you get some lovely sounds too.

The Co Operators/Waggle Dance are on Facebook here and Waggle Dance’s website is here

Bandcamp site is here

All words by Ian Canty – see his author profile here

The post The Co-Operators And Friends – Rhythms From The Kitchen Sink – Album Review appeared first on Louder Than War.

New Zealand four-piece, Miss June, released their latest track “Enemies” on July 16^th. Following hot on the heels of previous single Best Girl/Twitch, it cements their place as one of the prime movers in the Antipodean alternative rock/punk scene.

On Enemies, an atmospheric eerie opening introduces thumping drums before searingly intense driving guitars give way to adversarial ire filled attitude-in-bucketloads vocals from Annabel Liddell. The song raises the excitement levels to a peak for their debut album, Bad Luck Party, due to drop on September 6^th on Frenchkiss Records.

Don’t just take my word for it, watch the sinister video now, and get yourself along to the Bad Luck Party in September. Your enemies may not be your friends, but this track should be on your playlist.

If you prefer streaming, it is also on Spotify

Miss June Bandcamp

Miss June Facebook

Frenchkiss Records

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All words by Neil Hodge. More writing by Neil on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Neil online at his blog thegingerquiff.

The post Watch Now – New single from Miss June – Enemies – out now appeared first on Louder Than War.

Gardenback

Laugh Out Loud

Stream/ DL

Out Now

Oldham’s Gardenback continue their series of self-released singles with the excellent Laugh Out Loud. Roxy Gillespie reviews their latest musical offering.

Garden back have always had a quirky sound all their own and continue to bring out high quality tracks. With their last self-release, Existential Crisis In E Major, getting airplay from Johnny Kennedy at Radio X, it seems this lo-fi method hasn’t stopped the band from receiving the attention they deserve. Hopefully, Laugh Out Loud will receive the same attention.

Laugh Out Loud is a nice bit of commentary on the L.O.L. culture and the type of people happy to destroy others with a comment. Wrapped up in a great guitar-heavy tune, the vocals have a tremulous feel. The sound is forceful enough to be captivating, and has the usual interesting changes of pace and use of spoken phrases often found in Gardenback’s work. The whole thing hangs together perfectly and features some really good guitars. The DIY status of the track, recorded at the band’s rehearsal rooms, has no apparent affect on the quality of the sound. To be frank, it’s another great, catchy song from a consistently listenable band.

Gardenback are currently gigging around the northwest, especially in Manchester where they are currently based. If you like an alternative rock sound with lots of verve, these are really worth catching. Even though the songs are often dealing with the less savoury side of existence, there is an exuberance to the music this band produce that just can’t be held down. Even on the aptly titled Existential Crisis In E Major, the whole track bounces, even with the chorus ‘We are all going to die’. It’s quite a feat, but Gardenback pull it off with ease. Recorded or live, these are a band you don’t want to miss.

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Gardenback are on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Artwork: Alex Bennett @capacitorrr

All words by Roxy Gillespie. More writing on Louder Than War can be found at her author’s archive. She Tweets as @RoxyG100.

The post Gardenback: Laugh Out Loud – single review appeared first on Louder Than War.

PP Arnold

New Adventures

earMUSIC

CD/Double Vinyl/DL

Released on 9 August 2019

Soul singer PP Arnold releases her first solo album in over 50 years – a must for admirers of soul’s elite powerhouse divas such as Martha Reeves, Tina Turner and Aretha Franklin. 

Her big hits The First Cut Is The Deepest and Angel Of The Morning – and her two albums on Immediate Records – are standout moments of the Sixties but since quitting her job as a backing singer with Ike & Tina Turner and moving to England to work with The Small Faces, PP Arnold has spent half a century on the sidelines rather than in the spotlight.

Over the past 50-plus years, she has collaborated with a multitude of musicians including Mick Jagger, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, Barry Gibb, Peter Gabriel, Paul Weller, Primal Scream, Ocean Colour Scene, Altern8 and a decade with Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters. Now she steps into the spotlight with her first album in 51 years, thanks to Steve Cradock.

The Ocean Colour Scene and Paul Weller guitarist has given her a helping hand before: not only did Steve and his manager/wife Sally help release the long-archived Turning Point album that PP recorded with Barry Gibb and Eric Clapton back in the Sixties, but he recorded and produced this album at his studio in Devon.

With some new albums by the Sixties generation the production can sound too well polished, a little placid: happily, this isn’t the case with this new collection. It’s original, refreshed and absolutely stunning, with a touch of Walker Brothers arrangements. But instead of deep vocals, there is a gorgeous, authentic, spine-tingling voice breathing unforgettable moments throughout.

On the first single, sweet pop-soul ballad Baby Blue, PP’s clear-cut vocal dips the listener into a mellow universe of deliciousness. It’s a classic tune in the same vein as The First Cut Is The Deepest: the orchestral backing fits perfectly.

Every song here is special, including a Paul Weller original, When I Was Part Of Your Picture, sounding like a Temptations Motown-era dancefloor shuffler. Original composition I’ll Always Remember You, inspired by the death of her daughter Debbie, has fragile gospel harmonies which lift the saddened and downhearted to a renewed vision of optimism coupled with a prominent dedication to the one she loves.

A classy Cradock composition, Magic Hour, is the younger fresher brother to Billy Nicholls’ Would You Believe. The only thing that’s missing to make it a twin is a Steve Marriott guest vocal. A fabulous Northern Soul reworking of You Got Me is as delectable as picking your favourite chocolate from the Harrods mint selection, before an edgy ten-minute version of Bob Dylan’s The Last Thoughts Of Woody Guthrie poem adds a perfect closing chapter to this enchanting release.

A stand-out album of its time, it will no doubt be picked up, listened to and have its praises sung time and time again. Over the years there have been many an artist who has been written off, dissuaded, even shown the exit door.  PP Arnold is another example of the good getting their just desserts: on this occasion, a big fat slice of perfect pop cake awaits this queen of soul.

PP Arnold can be found via her Website, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter pages. You can purchase the album via this link. 

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All words by Matt Mead. Further articles by Matt can be found via the Louder Than War author archive pages.

The post PP Arnold: New Adventures – album review appeared first on Louder Than War.

Stepford Wives

I Can’t Fight

Self Released 1st August

DL all available outlets

Straight outta Saddleworth come along another group that have caught the attention of the LTW ‘AF’ Carey radar to join the group of exciting Next Wave bands hitting the streets. And there’s a slight difference with this lot….

 Stepford Wives are a canny bunch. Take the two elder statesmen in the band Niklos Jackson – the teacher, and Dom Wint the web master. Mix it up with two music students who can’s even fuckin’ vote yet and you get a pile driver of a second single. The first single slipped by me (I’m only human) however this fully gets my attention. It kicks off with a funky ska guitar riff but unlike the ska punk scene from across the pond this is British through and through. It builds up into a massive guitar riff launching the chorus of “Someone told me I can’t fight” and a fuckin’ thunderous assault of machine gun drumming that pummels your head. You can hear the influences in their like Pixies, The Clash, you get my drift. Niklos knows how to pen an anthem and right now they’re back in the studio planning the follow up. 

This second single was recorded at Edge Recording Studio in Cheshire by producer John Delf and engineer Mark Winterburn (New Order, Lana Del Rey, Bugzy Malone, Plan B) 

Already a massive crowd favourite at live shows, I Can’t Fight is the perfect riposte for everyone that has put you down, passed you over or tried to tell you you’re not good enough. 

Stepford Wives’ debut single Follow This Way received universal praise, with consistent radio airplay, and has been added to multiple Spotify playlists, including Manchester Music Forever’s “This Is Manchester 2019” compilation. They were named Revolution 96.2’s “Featured Band” at the beginning of April. Revolution 96.2 DJ and MMTV presenter Dave Sweetmore said: “Everyone is talking about them.”

I Can’t Fight will cause a scene wherever it gets played this summer and beyond. Contact the band directly to discuss interviews, reviews and live appearances.

One of the best releases from the Next Wave this year! Check it out!

Stepford Wives are:

Niklos Jackson- Guitars/Vocals

Rowan Heywood – Bass/Vocals

Jarrod Ogden – Drums

Dom Wint – Guitar

Live Date:

Saturday 10th August: Indie Rocks! Radio Launch Party – Jimmy’s, Manchester.

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Instagram

Twitter

Website

Spotify Hyperfollow

Words by Wayne Carey who writes for Louder Than War. His author profile is here and you can catch his  website here 

The post Stepford Wives: I Can’t Fight – Single Review appeared first on Louder Than War.