For a gig dubbed ‘Florence and Friends it was a strange decision to print the stage times on the door of Notting Hill’s Tabernacle including the names of the mystery guests and their sound checking times. So what started as an exciting round of ‘Guess the mystery guests’ merely became ‘Read the names off a sheet’. The premature nature of the announcement was not without joy however as alongside the expected suspects (Patrick Wolf, Jack Penate) was ‘Jarvis and Steve’. Alongside Britney and Kylie Jarvis Cocker is someone who doesn’t really require a surname however knowing that he was due to perform had the audience buzzing.
It’s easy to forget but a year ago nobody really knew who Florence and The Machine were yet with each month 2009 grows they tick off another milestone of success. To truly understand the intensity and over blown power of debut album ‘Lungs’ though you really have to see the band perform live and enter the world of extravagant exhibitionism. No stranger to showing off is Mr Patrick Wolf who is brought into tonight’s foray to perform ‘Dog Days’ and ‘Cosmic Love’. Wolf himself is similar to Florence in that he has a magnetic charisma and an ability to make you forget all others exist. It’s strange then that in the presence of his red-haired friend that he melts away to almost quiet anonymity. It doesn’t help that there is an almost physical barrier in the shape of his piano in the way but Wolf struggles to exert his powerful stage presence on his two duets.
Similarly Jack Penate is a confident and exciting live act but tonight next to Florence he may as well be in the audience. It’s at this point of the gig you begin to think the title should have been ‘The Machine and Friends’. Florence’s overriding voice and personality seem impeachable and it is because of this talent and power that she is so successful but to ask people to come onstage and try and match that unique ability is a task which eludes many of those on stage this evening.
It’s not surprising then that Jarvis Cocker is the man who comes closest to scaling the heights and grabbing some of the spotlight back. First, the pair duet on the creepy narrative of ‘Girl With One Eye’ which, like many Cocker songs, tells a story through verse and melody. His geography teacher chic look now uniform, Jarvis brings a creepy uncle vibe to the song and gives it a fresh outlook. The evenings defining moment however is when the pair run through the Pulp classic ‘Underwear’. The unexpected sexual tension between the pair was hinted at during their first song but the erotically charged Pulp lyrics bring the pair closer together thus creating a moment that falls somewhere between expectant and triumphant.
Ultimately however Florence is a solo star- she simply can’t share a stage without annihilating her partner. As mentioned this is the reason people love her but it’s the songs sung sans guests tonight that impress the most. Acoustic blasts of ‘Drumming Song’ and ‘Rabbit Heart’ showcase the now famous vocals and overriding feeling that Florence will be around, with or without friends, for a very long time.
Festivals. They're great but there's just not enough of them. Every weekend for 3 months is all well and good but I want a warm £4 cider and to see bands who would struggle to fill a Barfly every single day of the week. In two years time the whole of Britain will be covered by a tent and you will be handed a time sheet with your whole Summer's schedule on- mark my words. The times will be scheduled to change too. Make sure you pack the wet wipes.
One day festivals where you can leave your house (not tent) and go home (not to a tent) after the bands end make for a pretty sweet deal however. So this Sunday if you're in the Shoreditch area then why not pop along to 1234 and see the best East London has to offer? Yeah OK I don't know why The Rakes are headlining either BUT look further down the bill and there's plenty of treats. Including:
Hatcham Social playing the 'hits' from their underrated album 'You Dig The Tunnel...' including single of the year contender 'Murder In The Dark'
Patrick Wolf who is fresh from being SNUBBED by the Mercury judges yet again this week. Apprently he is working on a dance/ R'n'B album with Groove Armada. Hopefully he will air some Mutya Buena esque new songs during his set.
Ox. Eagle. Lion. Man will be plying their theatric Nick Cave homage in the afternoon. Always a fantastic live band OELM have been far to quiet this year probably due to Fred presenting on MTV2 and posing for pictures like this.
I'm also hoping to catch Televised Crimewave, Crystal Fighters and Lion Club. Tim Burgess will also be there still trying to convince the world he isn't 42.
May, what a month! Don't know why, just seems to be the right thing to say. I can't remember much of it as all I do is sit in a room waiting for The Daily What to get updated. However I do remember Britain's Got Talent sending Susan Boyle crazy whilst simultaneously celebrating an obese Greek boy riverdancing and some quite funny football goings on (see above). Elsewhere I went to a couple of 'festivals' (No mud= not proper right?), interviewed some cool people and reviewed pretty much every album going. If you're still reading this then thank you, the blog is getting record hits every day and I have some very exciting plans in the pipeline that should see everything get bigger and sleeker, wider and brighter. Until July friends.... xx
Finally- like music videos? Wish they were compiled in a big tower? Course you do. Well pop over to Boring by the sea's official video site (Boring by the TV?) currently featuring videos from Mika Miko, Phoenix, Metric, Maximo Park, Lissy Trullie and Kings Of Leon.
Shit, totally forgot it was June already. May's been a pretty great month all in all, maybe the best of the year so far. Here are my picks of the best albums released during the month.
The Horrors- Primary Colours (Review) The Maccabees- Colour It In (Review) Patrick Wolf- The Bachelor (Review) Passion Pit- Manners (Review) Jarvis Cocker- Further Complications Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson- Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Grizzly Bear- Veckatimest Maximo Park- Quicken The Heart (Review)
I genuinely can't decide between The Horrors and Maccabees for album of the month. The former is such a massive progression and makes me feel proud of the band, like watching a bullied child hit back with a round house kick. However The Maccabees have made their own steps forward and made one of the most romantic albums I've heard in years. Chances are they'll both be competing for the #1 spot in my end of year poll- let's call it a draw for May and let battle commence in December.
Notable absensces: Green Day and Manic Street Preachers. Old men in punk bands are the saddest thing in the world.
Download these
The Horrors- 'Sea Within A Sea' The Maccabees- 'No Kind Words' Patrick Wolf- 'Damaris' Passion Pit- 'The Reeling' Jarvis Cocker- 'Angela' Maximo Park- 'Roller Disco Dreams' M-BAR- 'Buriedfed' Grizzly Bear- 'Two Years'
In a world of beige and plaid Patrick Wolf is a welcome jolt of uncompromising extravagance. From his debut record ‘Lycanthropy’ in 2003 to the present day Wolf has flirted with extremes, a male Grace Jones, a combination of techno and folk, a West London celebrity, an forest child obsessed with Berlin and Bjork- Patrick Wolf has done it all. This refusal to be pigeon holed or categorised was always going to cause relations with a major label to become fractious and following his expensive and ubiquitous third album ‘The Magic Position’ peaking at just #69 in the UK (ironically the same position as the lo-fi and unmarketed single ‘The Libertine’) Wolf was unceremoniously dropped.
Where some would seek solace in solitude, retreating to a safe zone and making the music people expect to hear from them Wolf has used the break as liberation, an escape from the machinery that never suited his naturalistic tendencies. Taking the unapproved material recorded for the follow up to ‘The Magic Position’ as alimony from Universal Wolf struck upon a unique and forward thinking way of releasing the record. It couldn’t really have been any other way. BandStocks is the method, a fan funded label that entitles people who invest £10 in ‘The Bachelor’ to a copy of the album, merchandise, gig tickets and a stake in the record itself. This cash injection allowed Wolf a way to see his music take flight, away from the boardroom bores who had deemed his work unsuitable for the market. Quite what they were failing to see is confusing to say the least; perhaps they took umbrage to the sheer volume of it? ‘The Bachelor’ is the first of a double release with a further LP, ‘The Conqueror’, due for release in 2010. The reason for the wealth of material was Wolf falling in love during the recording process of an album originally titled ‘Battle’ distracting him from his initial album of songs inspired by depression.
‘The Bachelor’ certainly comes across as an album powered by the onset of romance, it’s full of optimism, vigour and passion- Wolf sounds liberated and confident throughout. He has roped in a series of friends too including Alec Empire, Eliza Carthy and most intriguing of all Hollywood/ indie actress Tilda Swinton. Whilst Empire and Carthy represent the juxtaposition driving Wolf’s musical leanings, the cold hard techno rhythms and the wistful yearning of traditional folk, it is perhaps Swinton who compliments Wolf and his music the most. She plays the voice of Hope throughout ‘The Bachelor’, drifting through the record with an ethereal presence, her cut glass accent adding gravitas on every occasion. With this roaming, rag-tag bunch of waifs and strays wandering around ‘The Bachelor’ it would be easy to lose track of Wolf however he demands attention at all times with his rich vocals and complete unpredictability. ‘The Bachelor’ kicks off properly with the anthemic and string driven ‘Hard Times’ with the epic refrain of “Revolution!” coursing throughout. Guitars, an instrument not normally associated with Wolf’s previous output, make their first appearance on ‘Hard Times’ too, the pungent whiff of revolution is truly in the air. As ‘Hard Times’ gives way to the metronomic beats of ‘Oblivion’ Tilda Swinton’ floats into the foreground for the first time, her spoken word parts interspersed with the stabbing words of Wolf doing battle with those pounding electronic drums. Another guest emerges on the albums title track, electronic pioneer Mathew Herbert providing his idiosyncratic growl to a pounding backing track amidst swooping violins and Wolf sparring in the background. Symptomatic of the album this track is thickly layered and rich with depth and soul.
As the album progresses more accomplished and experimental works come to the fore. Never one to shy away from the avant-garde Wolf has certainly dipped his toe into the pool of indulgence on ‘The Bachelor’ without properly getting his toes wet. You suspect that if the forthcoming second album ‘The Conqueror’ is an ode to the on-the-road melancholy Wolf suffered from when promoting his ‘Magic Position’ then a ‘Disintegration’ style black pit of doom is upon us and much more open to the experimental side of Wolf’s artistry. Yes, ‘The Bachelor’ is a pop album indeed. For example, ‘Damaris’ is a soaring and cinematic ballad with a beautiful string section set against a deeply moving vocal and sweet choral backing- it’s one of Wolf’s finest moments to date. ‘Count Of Casualty’ feels similar in an over blown and camp fashion but where ‘Damaris’ is natural and free ‘Count..’ is steel and wires, each processed beat sounding like a human heart bursting through a chest. As the record comes to a close it perhaps overstays its welcome somewhat with a few extraneous songs somehow avoiding the cutting room floor (‘Blackdown’, ‘The Messenger’) whilst the more extreme collaborations with Alec Empire (‘Vulture’. ‘Battle’) rub their leather boots uncomfortably against the more sedate and dignified side of the record.
That is Patrick Wolf all over though, a man who can spend time on the cliffs and mountain tops with a violin and a broken heart then with the click of a sequencer be in an S&M techno club thrusting and gyrating. A man of contradictions, an artist of immense talent- ‘The Bachelor’ is back on track.
Anyone who has been keeping up with Patrick Wolf in recent months will know he has had a turbulent time. From getting dropped to revealing his long term, same sex relationship Wolf has re-established who he is as an artist and emerged with a new album, 'The Bachelor' under his arm. Tonight's set is a chance to road-test the new tracks as well as air a handful of fan favourites.
Coming on stage wearing a head mic more usually associated with Britney or Madonna is a brave move and unsurprisingly it does break during the intro to 'The Libertine', "That's what you get for singing live I guess, Madonna just mimes." Prior to that however Wolf uses his freedom and mobility to great theatric effect. From being on his knees and embracing the crowd during set opener 'Oblivion' to geing able to punch his fist into the ground on the correspodong line from 'Damaris' Wolf uses the lack of rigidity to create a sense of unpredictability. Most impressive is the physicality of new song 'Battle', an aggressive and high energy techno punk call to arms- Wolf conducts the riot with suitable confrontation and charisma. Charisma is an overriding theme with Wolf, in between songs he is charming and funny from telling the crowd how his violin teacher said he would never succeed as he "Couldn't sit still" which then leads to an impersonation of Estelle's walk from the BRIT awards.
This inability to sit still, both physically and creatively, is what makes Wolf such an engaging talent though. As the set flicks between the punky 'Tristan' and 'Accident and Emergency' to the new epic folk of 'Thickets' and 'Count Of Casualty' the performance and intensity doesn't drop an inch. The newer material blends in well with the older work too, 'Blackdown' and Wolf's self-declared favourite 'Who Will' sit nicely with 'Magic Position' cut 'Bluebells' and the spralling 'Teignmouth' during the hour plus set. The role of actress Tilda Swinton is an intriguing one on 'The Bachelor' and at this early stage her spoken word parts are struggling to translate in the live setting. Clearly she is not performing at the shows so her part is played through a monitor however jostling for position alongside processed beats and swirling violins Swinton's cut glass delivery gets lost- when the band find a way to make this feature work it will be sublime.
And so, the venemous and camp vaudevillian show comes to and with the forthcoming single 'Hard Times' in which Wolf calls for resolution and revolution amidst a sea of violins and guitars. He looks happy and embraces the crowds rapturous applause and in that moment you can't help but feel that his massive amount of those two r's is what makes him so vital and necessary.
A short medley of the new Patrick Wolf album 'Battle' has appeared online. On first listens it sounds darker than 2007's 'The Magic Position' but retaining his elaborate mix of electronica and orchestral pop. Listen to it here.
Hello. This is a blog about my favourite music. I hope you like the songs as much as I do. To see my journalism portfolio please visit http://davidrenshaw.tumblr.com
Just a quick one this week, seems to have been a bit quiet one for everyone bar Lil' Wayne anyway.
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