Category: Music Review

Diary // Wallis Bird at The Garage, London

Wallis Bird at The Garage, Highbury, London, May 11 2014

So last Sunday night, I headed along to catch Wallis Bird at The Garage in London. The night was opened by Rachel Ries who recently released her own album ‘Ghost of a Gardener’. Ries, who played electric guitar, was for the most part accompanied on keys by a gentleman with an Irish accent, but whose name escaped me. There was a little of her playing keys. but the fact that she played electric guitar seemed to take her out of the little female piano playing singer songwriter cage.

Architect is Wallis Bird’s fourth album and her most successful. This tour to support the album has seen more people than before come to see Wallis live. And it’s not surprising to see why. On record, Architect, is a fantastically accomplished piece of work, live, her enthusiasm for her music shines through, as does her honesty and authenticity. Bird and her band put on a great show, musicianship is tight and second to none but there’s also room for spontaneity. She plays tracks from her current album along with that of her older catalogue and it’s easy to see that belongs on stage.

Bird’s humour shines through on stage, yes she has some terrible jokes. Even though. when she speaks about more serious between songs, such as gender equality Bird lovingly refers to Jesus Sausage. (This is the night after Conchita Wurst’s win at Eurovision).

But the music speaks loudest of all and when you hear tracks like Communion, To My Bones, Hardly Hardly, Blossoms in the Street, I Can Be Your Man and Encore, it’s easy to see that Wallis Bird is one of the best artists of our generation. Great songs, great band, great stage presence, if you haven’t seen her live, you are doing yourself and injustice.

May 15, 2014
The 1975: Album Review

Over the past while, I haven’t had the chance to write as much as I would have liked, what with moving countries and all but one thing about where I am currently in London, is that from when I leave the house to getting to work, I generally have the time to listen to one album.

One of the album’s that has helped me with my new morning commute is the debut from The 1975. When I reviewed their Sex EP, I wondered about how the band would meld all their sounds instead of heading off in different directions. I like how they’ve dealt with it.

Matt Healy, Ross MacDonald, Adam Hann and George Daniel are The 1975. They make indie pop music, from Manchester, they have a knack for producing memorable melodies and lyrics, timeless songs, why timeless? There are many elements to their music and production that seem to stem from the 1980’s, like the blue eye soul breaking through ‘Girls’.

Earlier released tracks, ‘The City’ and ‘Sex’ have been given a make over which knocks the rawness off the tracks and takes a little getting used to. But these re-records are part of what make the album a collection, not just random tracks. The other thing that helps achieve this is the spacing in the album.

16 quality tracks is a lot for any band to produce for a debut. The album is intro-ed by ‘The 1975’, a dreamy one minute twenty. The first part of the album includes ‘The City’, which is very much a ‘band’ song. This is followed by ‘M.O.N.E.Y.’, samples and studio trickery build a sparse but full soundscape.
At this point, it seems like The 1975 have played all their cards up front, adding ‘Sex’ and ‘Chocolate’. This chapter ends with ‘Talk’, clever drums and lyrics and the trademark vocal lines define this.

The next section is introduced with ‘Encounter’ an instrumental one minute fifteen which builds up and clearly starts the section of the album. As The 1975 has already been to Number One it’s hard to know how much more promotion could follow in the UK. Last single ‘Girls’ is also in this second part of the album but for these ears The 1975 still have at least one massive card up their sleeve. ‘Robbers’ is an soaring epic track, although ten tracks in, definitely should not be skimmed over. This could be massive.

’12’ provides another break in the collection and these prove to be massively effective. ‘She Way Out’ is an uptempo track which could be elevated to single status. The album closes with Matt Healy’s vocals and a piano on the touching ‘Is there someone to watch over you’, which opens with the line ‘We should ring Dad more’. Autobiographical ? Perhaps and if we apply to all these tracks it can probably explain the emotion and sometimes pain which underlines the indie pop.

A fantastic collection of songs for a debut. People always remember events by music, what song was in the charts, what was on the radio. The 1975 soundtracked my move to London.

December 16, 2013
Public Service Broadcasting: Inform – Educate – Entertain (Review)

Although ‘Inform – Educate – Entertain’ has been around for a while, it’s only now that Public Service Broadcasting‘s debut gets a full Irish release.

Breaking down what Public Service Broadcasting do seems like an easy task on face value. They use old Public Service film footage and meld samples of these with their own music. They’re not the first band to use samples but how PSB have moulded these is utterly awesome.

PSB are J.Willgoose, Esq. musician extraordinaire, who seems to play everything apart from drums which are played by Wrigglesworth. As we’re introduced to the album, it’s easy to forget that these samples weren’t specifically made for this album. They sound like they should have always been part of a PSB track. Themes differ through the album. ‘Spitfire’ originally appeared on PSB’s War Room EP and features war propaganda audio, speaking about Spitfire planes, the music reflects the urgency of planes.

‘Signal 30’ is based around US public films from early boy racers explaining the dangers of drinking, driving and speeding. It’s interesting to look at how some of the attitudes towards driving have changed. Each track, is different, the mood is different, the subject matter is different. Recent single ‘Night Mail’ takes samples from the 1936 film of the same name which in turn featured WH Auden’s poem. (We actually had to study this film in media theory in college). The rhythm of the track echoes a train hurtling along on the track. The musicality of this album is such that it is mind boggling to even think about where PSB started with these. The samples and this original music seem like were always supposed to be married together in this way, it has just taken the right people to do it.

Of all the tracks on the album though, it is ‘Everest’, which really makes you think. The track explaining the perils of climbing ‘Peak 15’. The isolation and desperation of trying to get to the summit is portrayed in equal measure through the samples and through PSB’s musical arrangement. The track finishes aptly with the question ‘Why should a man climb Everest? Because it is there.’

PSB have brought the past to the present, reworked, re-imagined and given a new life to these public service films. They ensure that each track is seriously danceable, they do, as promised, Inform, Educate and Entertain. A thrilling ride, one of the albums of the year.

December 15, 2013
Imagine Dragons: Live at The Olympia, Dublin – Review

Imagine Dragons in The Olympia Theatre, Dublin, August 22 2013

Originally published on Goldenplec.

Since the Irish release of ‘Night Visions’, Imagine Dragons‘ popularity has grown at an incredible pace. As if a top ten album wasn’t enough, they sold out two nights in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre with Goldenplec checking out the second of the two.

Dutch band, Soul Sister Dance Revolution, start off the night. While many opening acts have the opportunity to play their best five or six songs, SSDR play a full set. During that time neither the quality of music from the stage or the enthusiasm from the audience wanes. The band declare that it’s their job to “warm you up” and they do just that. They play rock music and manage to successfully build a bridge between American rock and British indie, easily winning over the audience with tracks from their debut album. Many of the assembled are already familiar with the music, singing along with frontman Thomas van der Want, however it is keyboardist Camiel Meiresonne who steals the show. When he isn’t behind the keys, he’s dancing insanely around the stage, tambourine in hand, often precariously close to the edge. It’s a great set, with an equally great reaction from an audience that’s truly fired up for the headliners.

The lights dim to reveal a row of lights on the ground, either side of the drumkit. It’s a simple stage set up, with the band’s instruments and some extra drums and percussion across the front of the stage, and one set slightly to the left in front of the main kit. The stage’s main focal point is the massive bass drum placed beside singer Dan Reynolds’ mic stand. As the band begin, the dramatic intro makes fantastic use of the percussive instruments on stage. This smoothly changes into Round and Round, much to squeals of delight from the mainly late teen early twenty-something audience.

This song sets the tone for the rest of the evening, with the crowd singing every word in a good old ‘hands in the air’ gig. At first viewing the extra percussion on stage may seem excessive, but the band have incorporated it beautifully into their set. Songs from ‘Night Visions’ may have been all over the radio for the past while but it’s live where Imagine Dragons really come into their own. Their songs are perfect for a live environment, with breaks and opportunities for the audience to get involved and become part of the night.

An extra touring member, Ryan Walker, provides some extra instrumentation with guitar, keys and the memorable mandolin line on It’s Time. The track is one of the standouts of the night, with the band beginning and ending by hitting out the rhythmic beat on their own bodies. During the set, they play the different drums placed around the stage and end up promptly dropping drum sticks on the ground, keeping a member of their crew constantly busy in pick up mode.

The atmosphere in The Olympia is something special, with a feelgood synergy between the audience and the band that is often associated with huge stadium rock gigs. The tempo is lowered for a beautiful acoustic version of Thirty Lives, with Wayne Sermon on guitar and drummer Daniel Platzman on violin. This is probably the only song of the night where not all the audience are familiar with the song, but it shows a versatility within the band and a sincerity in Dan Reynolds’ vocals that can sometimes be lost in a bigger sounding rock song. While three of the band take a recess after this performance, it gives bassist Ben McKee the chance to show of his solo bass skills.

A beat boxing version of Cold War Kids’ Hang Me Out To Dry follows, running seamlessly into a jazzy Stand By Me. Imagine Dragons know how to kick start a sing-along and are masters of segues, using their percussive sounds beautifully to move back to their own original music and to the reggae tinged Underdog.

Suddenly, a line of people run from stage right to front and centre stage, throwing huge balloons into the crowd. As Top of the World plays there’s a complete carnival atmosphere in the venue, and the balloons pop to shower the crowd in confetti. The audience still have some energy as the first bars of Radioactive fill the venue, making sure their voices are louder than the music, singing with all their might.

Olé Olé Olé, a Spanish chant of delight, fills the Olympia and rightly so. Imagine Dragons have entertained fantastically tonight – with their tribal drums, musicality, harmonies and their songs, you just have to sing along. The band return for one more, and Nothing Left To Say builds to its climax, giving the audience the chance to raise their voices one last time. For the band, it’s hard to fake those smiles.

Check out all my music reviews here

September 6, 2013