New Music 2015 - Part 22 - Alabama Shakes - Sound & Color

It has been a whole week since I added a post to the series 'New Music 2015'. These days a week seems like an age in new music to me and that can only be a measure of my appreciation. 
In this case I shall move away from the acoustic scene and indeed the UK. This is the forthcoming second LP from Alabama Shakes, a band that I was lucky enough to see live at End of The Road Festival in 2012. The cover art is as simple and restrained as that of its predecessor 'Boys and Girls' and, I hope, again a good reason not to judge the album by its cover alone. I have even recorded similar thoughts about this band before.

It is released in the UK (Rough Trade Records) on 20 April and North America (ATO Records) on 21 April.

I have heard only snatches of some tracks (listing below) but even so I am intrigued to say the very least. It could turn out to be even more of a revelation than the début, which it is worth remembering was recorded just months after the band coalesced. I am not currently aware of any planned UK dates, but I want to be there...
End Of The Road or Green Man would be ideal for me!

1. Sound & Colour
2. Don't Wanna Fight
3. Dunes
4. Future People
5. Gimme All Your Love
6. The Feeling
7. Guess Who
8. The Greatest
9. Shoegaze
10. Miss You
11. Gemini
12. Over My Head

This is the official video to 'Future People'.

I hesitate to say that it is in any way "typical" of the album because I don't think it will be an album that can be judged in that way and is certainly not album like 'Boys and Girls'. It is therefore very high on my list of albums that I want to hear in its entirety. It is also one that I am very likely to buy on vinyl.

29 April 2015:
'Sound & Colour' now sits at the top of both the US and Canadian album charts.

EOTR 2012 - Thoughts on new music 2

The reformed Grandaddy and Grizzly Bear were both awesome and some of my friends might have regarded one or other as their own particular highlight of the festival but were I forced to do so, and somebody just posed this question, the highlight of End of The Road Festival 2012 for me was Alabama Shakes. This is, in some ways, a justification for buying an 'early bird' ticket. Just like trusting labels it is a convenient opt in - I know that I can trust the EOTR organizers to put on more bands that I want to see/hear than will actually be possible - and so I already have a ticket for EOTR 2013 (and NDH 2013, too). This means that as the booked artists become known, over the ensuing months, the excitement is purely that of anticipation. When I came to know that EOTR 2012 had Alabama Shakes on the list anticipation started to take full control. I had pre-ordered the début album 'Boys and Girls' on vinyl and at the first opportunity, so I already knew the songs quite well, and then this happened...

Alabama Shakes, the Woods Stage, at about 19:45 on Saturday.
Songs that do not appear on the album were awesome too.

  

This is soul-blues of the of the highest order and they are generous with it too appearing for a second time, on the Big Top Stage on Sunday evening and also various other unadvertised performances. This is another picture from the Woods Stage on Saturday.

Simply astonishing. 

Brittany Howard does have a phenomenal voice on the recording and yet still chooses to wear glasses while performing live, simply out of choice.  It is quite the statement of who she is and this authenticity is at the heart of Alabama Shakes. When heard live that voice makes the vinyl recording sound rather ordinary and, good-as-she-is with guitar and there is no doubt about that either, live the band is tight as hell.
Live music probably doesn't get much better than this but please feel free to prove me wrong.

Last Thursday is a long time in Music

Last Thursday I wrote something, about the passing of Jim Marshall and his influence on electric guitar music. That included the comment that, at least in the UK, it is somewhat out of fashion.
That would be quite inconsequential were it not for this...  much hailed as just more 'southern fried rock', something long forgotten and also forever indie, so Alabama Shakes was derided by much of the music industry. It is a cliché that, I'm pleased to say, I don't think they could ever stoop so low as to reach; it was, however, tentatively predicted to gradually conquer at least the more receptive parts of the UK audience through live performance.
  
Be that as it may, the latest UK album chart mid-week predictions suggest otherwise - the début album 'Boys and Girls' is really on to something... it was only released - vinyl, CD and d/l on Monday, 9 April in the UK by indie label Rough Trade Recordings.  There's serious trouble afoot and it is just possible that it will top the UK album chart on its week of release. WTF is that about?
The album is extremely good, and not just for a début, but more than that the band's live reputation is already firmly established. The band is awesome live but, unusual in such a genre, so too is the contribution by vocalist Brittany Howard.
  
The album artwork has a quite unsurprising geometry:

Alabama Shakes is confirmed for End Of The Road 2012 (EOTR 2012). I, for one, can't wait.

Dylan LeBlanc - EOTR 2010 - Part 6

Thoughts on music now concern, in large part, that which I have seen and heard in the last year and the season of compiling lists and making choices is soon upon us. I have a good idea how that works out in my opinion but, in the meantime, I don't think that it too late to mention a few other things for tickets for 2011 festivals are on sale or, in some cases, long sold.
I like new music. I like independent labels and Rough Trade Records has had a blinding 2010 in my opinion. To open a festival stage is a challenge; to open the main one on Sunday is to encounter an audience that, possibly unknowing of the artist in question, might also be tired and hungover.  That is an invitation only some might accept, but for the sake of ambition, and many would later rue.

He took the bit willingly and owned that stage for the duration.

The songs came (in large part) from his 2010 début album 'Pauper's Field'. You might argue that such musical territory is in general rather well populated just now, and you would be right, but I say it is for a reason and this album is a fine demonstration of just why so.

If you think that, just because I have already posted about some 2011 artists and albums, I'm now done with 2010 I hope to prove you wrong at least once. I'm not even done with 2005 yet, dammit.

Warpaint & Marching Songs - New Music 2010 #20

If the title appears a little bellicose then fear not; all they have in mind is to take your heart and soul by virtue of their music alone. In these shortening days and colder nights, how could you not want that?
This is music for dark nights, warm sustenance and, perchance, much of what follows might well be amongst my listening suggestion for Halloween. I saw Esben and The Witch live on a sunny summer's afternoon in Suffolk and even then the laid-back festival vibe could not detract from the fact that this is essentially slightly menacing music. The band name is taken from a rather dark Danish folk tale... They have been signed to Matador Records since then and the Marching Song EP is their first true label release.

The band is currently mid-way through a month-long tour of the US , including and a quick trip north of the 49th to Vancouver with Cassandra (that is their trusty tour van - 6000 miles and counting), in support of Foals.  The EP is readily available on legal d/l from the usual sources.  There are also 300 12" vinyl copies out there, available from independent stores; if you want one try Rough Trade.


There is a certain irony in that while Esben and The Witch is doing this Warpaint, that hail from Los Angeles, is in the UK doing pretty much the same kind of thing. The distances are far smaller, of course, but the idea behind it is much the same.  This, I think, just goes to show the remarkable synergy that now exists between UK and North American music and long may it continue.
This is the vinyl EP 'Exquite Corpse', although you can also have it in other formats too.

Warpaint is a psych-rock four-piece that has been flicking tantalizing sparks into the wind for a long time now  - any number of line up changes and very few gigs - but it is starting to become clear that this long apprenticeship is about to reap a just reward.
The release of their début album 'The Fool' is imminent - it is expected to be 25 October in the UK - and this too is available on vinyl, CD and d/l.

     If you want an alternative take on Halloween 2010 then please do consider all these as contenders.

Warpaint are in fact signed to Rough Trade Records (in the UK at least) so I expect that there might well be a bonus disc if you buy from Rough Trade (their stores or on-line) once it is released. I can't make any promises but they do however have a solid history in this regard: support independent artists, labels and stores - your music needs you just as much as you need it!

Smoke Fairies - EOTR 2010 - Part 3

Note added November 10. 2010:

UK tour dates in January & early February 2010 now on sale.

Now call me obsessive if you like - I know that I can deal with it - and as regular readers might well have noticed 'Smoke Fairies' have appeared in my posts on several occasions over the last few years.  I had seen them live two or three times before, most recently in the Film & Music tent at Latitude 2009, but this was their first time at EOTR. They were on The Garden Stage at 14:15 on a glorious, sunny Sunday afternoon.  The day's proceedings had been commenced by Rough Trade artist Dylan LeBlanc, who was also excellent.

Me, watching you, watching Dylan LeBlanc...

Surreal it is --- probably only EOTR lends itself to this.

Jessica Davies and Katharine Blamire met on their first day at secondary school in Eastbourne and soon discovered a shared love of music. Since then it has taken them to places as far afield as New Orleans for extended periods - Jessica now frequently plays slide guitar as a result I suspect (as she is doing in the image below) - which adds much to their sound and Vancouver and it all shows on the album Through Low Light and Trees.

On this occasion they also had pedal-steel guitar, bass and drums to accompany them.  Some that I talked to afterwards were of the opinion that it distracted from their fundamental sound; I appreciate where they are coming from but my own opinion is that it worked out quite well on a larger stage.

     Through Low Light and Trees, the album, is simply fantastic: a perfect foil for fall.

Not Least @ Latitude - Part 6 - Wilder

I mentioned this Bristol four-piece shortly before I left for Latitude 2010.  Here they are live - and yes you guessed - on the Lake Stage.

Sam plays guitar and also sings but clearly not in this shot.

  Joe plays bass while Jay (out of shot)  does the duty on synths.

So far that is quite unremarkable but there was a problem: they had no drummer that they could call their own and that is where the story becomes slightly surreal. Everyone goes to a supermarket when they need some munchies and the proto-Wilder are of course no different except that (to fan the fires of haters of a certain chain in particular) they struck lucky.  As well as what they were there for they also found their fourth piece. Drummer Beci is now also, apparently, the de facto band interviewee (and sometimes interviewer) and they didn't even have to pay for her at the checkout.

They were ferocious live on Sunday afternoon. The single Boys vs. Girls was as good as might have been expected but so was the rest of the set. The band has very recently been signed to indie label Rough Trade Records and the LP should be out around the end of this year. Wilder is, in my book at least, another one to watch.

Wet Wipes and Waterproofs

I'm all ready to set off for Latitude 2010 tomorrow morning with the aforementioned items high on the list of things to take.  All being well this time tomorrow evening I shall be in that orthogonal universe that is a three-day festival.   As an outlook it might seem as gloomy as it is pragmatic but in fact I'm very much of the opinion that festivals are more about a state of mind than anything truly measurable. Who can tell if that hypothesis will be put to the test?
The weather looks as if it will be a mixture of sunshine and showers, with a trend towards better conditions as time goes on.  The main annoyance is that Thursday and Friday look like being rather windy for July.  In that regard I'm pretty glad that I have a small tent as the large dome types tend to suffer in the wind.


I've just been listening to Huw Stephens on BBC Radio 1 and he played an interesting track that I had not heard before: it is 'Girls vs. Boys', the first single from new Bristol-based electro-indie band Wilder. Huw Stephens is also, by coincidence, curating the showcase for new music 'BBC Introducing on The Lake Stage' at Latitude as in the years I have attended and mentioned that Wilder are playing...
Yet another to add to the mix that I would like to hear.

This is their first single and it appears, as limited 7" vinyl, on July 26 released by Rough Trade Records to whom the band is now signed.  On the basis of this single and another track also recorded live at the BBC Maida Vale Sessions, which was played, this is an enticing prospect indeed.
One of my few real criticisms of Latitude 2009 was that the BBC Introducing - Lake Stage was something of a disappointment: it was under utilised and, as a result, under attended.
Other new, or at least newish, acts that I would like to catch include The Middle East that is in fact from Australia and some others I have mentioned before, if only in passing, such as Jesca Hoop, Esben And The Witch, Yuck and I Blame Coco. 
On the Yuck front, and since I last mentioned them, it seems that they have so much new music that the band is now planning a side project. It will be interesting to see and hear what happens...

As an aside, nothing to do with Latitude in so far as I aware, here is something for the music space cadets amongst us.  The band, now reconfigured, and some of its members I have mentioned before, love life, love pop and love vinyl...
http://www.roughtrade.com/site/shop_detail.lasso?search_type=sku&sku=329142

I have plenty more to tell but it is time for an early night; there won't be any in the next few if I have my way.

Even in these digital days...

Once upon a time every town had a record store and they were there for browsing, talking and a source of unbiased (well mostly) advice. They of course reaped their reward by tempting you to buy things!

In these days of digital downloads, Myspace and and the like you might think that they are no more. It is true that they are now rare but they still exist and, along with the ongoing popularity of live music and vinyl, are determined to fight for a place amongst the new order. In fact they are now more valuable than ever and a resource to be cherished. Those that exist remain places where enthusiasm, shared by the staff, exceeds all else - and it is possible to claim that the pub band you saw last night is the next big thing whilst also admitting the need for an old Donovan album; for research purposes only you understand!
Most now also do on-line sales in a very professional way, and it is something in which they can excel, and I have mentioned many as sources of various items, often on vinyl or otherwise unavailable, already on these posts and they are scattered across the UK. Several are, unsurprisingly, in London. Puregrove is one (and now also a label) that I have mentioned before and this is another.

Rough Trade - a record label and also a record store or two.

This one is not a label but it is in fact the oldest continuously trading record store in the world...

Spillers, in Cardiff since 1896.

What I have never done is to mention that, fifteen minutes walk from home, there is just such an establishment. [Click on the images below to enlarge and these were taken by me yesterday morning.]

In fact there are two parts - the above is the one that specializes in physical digital formats - and a couple of doors away is the other branch...

They all deserve, and really need, your support.

Doubtful Comforts - luck can do you like a shotgun.

'Want To Listen' Music 2009 - Part 1: Hot on the heels of my recent post there is a début single from Blue Roses. 'Doubtful Comforts' is released on March 2, 2009 by Rough Trade. It is available for pre-order now and there is a limited vinyl 7". For an update on this artist see here.

If you want temptation, but don't blame me, then start here:
http://www.roughtrade.com/site/

An album that has very much become on my 'want to listen' list is by an artist who is well known, particularly for the band she once fronted; it is 'Colonia' and she is Nina Persson, formerly of The Cardigans, in her 'A Camp' persona for the first time since the eponymous album in 2001. After the passage of eight years it is, rather unsurprisingly, not quite the same beast and, arguably, it is an even better one. [See my update on this item - 6 February 2009]

Well that has dealt with Shipley and Stockholm, at least for now.