Glastonbury 2022
It may have slipped your attention, but Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts made its long-awaited return a couple of weeks ago.
Of course, it would only have passed you by if you had been out of the UK for the month of June, such is the attention the festival receives. And justly so; it’s the biggest collation of creators and fans of music in the world and for that reason, alongside many others, it stands apart.
Restrictions may have lifted nearly a year ago, but the sense that the pandemic is finally over would only have been put to bed upon Glastonbury’s return (let’s not mention that COVID numbers are spiking once again, in part down to super-spreader events such as this).
As such, more so than ever, there was a distinct atmosphere of celebration and communion. Traditionally, the festival starts slowly with punters dripping in from Wednesday to Friday morning but this year, the place was packed from the word go, those lucky enough to be the holders of the golden ticket having waited for nearly three years to cash it in. Revellers revel, dancers dance and drinkers drink.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/07/review-glastonbury-2022/
Introducing: Borrowed Atlas
Borrowed Atlas knowingly describe themselves as the ‘eleventh best sad band in Bristol’.
Yet while there is undoubtedly an accepting melancholy to their offerings, their sadness has been channelled effectively to be more akin to rage.
Take compelling new single ‘End Song’. A darkly chiming guitar riff signifies what’s to come, before marauding drums and a terrifying bassline, like an alarm, burrows its way into your temple.
Singer Darren Frost’s (formerly of noise-rockers Spectres) anxious vocals (‘It’s all I see, it’s all I need’) are complemented well by Connie Matthews’ (of Wych Elm) lighter touch on backing vocals.
Despite the tone, End Song bounces deftly before the band come together to create an intense outro. Meanwhile, on the Welsh-spoken ‘DWP’, Matthews takes leads with her voice set to an echoing and haunting setting.
Once again, the persistent cymbal time-keeping garners a feeling of dread, a knowing precursor to an explosion of rock music which arrives in the form of gnarly guitars. Think The Horrors with the ambition of My Bloody Valentine.
It’s probably good for neither your psyche nor your soul, but play it loud. Sadness has never sounded so confident.
Liam Gallagher - C’Mon You Know
As you may know, Liam Gallagher is performing some big shows in the coming weeks.
As well as stadium gigs in Manchester, Belfast and Glasgow there’s the small matter of two nights at Knebworth. Yet, seemingly forgotten amidst the excitement of his return to the scene of Oasis’ most famous gig 26 years on, is the small matter of a new album.
It’s become a cliché to reference how successful Gallagher’s comeback has been (160,000 Knebworth tickets selling out before a crotchet of new music had been heard is testament to that), but both As You Were and Why Me? Why Not. were built on solid and safe foundations.
Pleasingly, and perhaps buoyed by their success, he and his ‘army of songwriters’ have clearly decided that the terrain is rigorous enough to withstand some tweaks to the formula, which may infuriate many but surprise more.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-liam-gallagher-cmon/
Porridge Radio - Waterslide, Diving Board, Ladder To The Sky
There’s something quintessentially British (or specifically, English) about repressing one’s feelings.
We don’t like to make a fuss or, even worse, show weakness or indeed emotion. We must be stoic. We must keep our feelings in check and keep our own counsel. Obviously, it is and always has been incredibly unhealthy, but fortunately those perceptions are changing through the generations, even if the pace is glacial.
Of course the big losers are those who opt not to engage with their emotions, not least because they are denying themselves the cathartic release. Not so for Porridge Radio and specifically songwriter/singer Dana Margolin, who has a unique ability to harness the emotion and invigorate herself.
Not to say it’s pleasant experience. This, their third album, is stocked full of lyrics which make Margolin’s recent interactions seem unbearable.
She’s angry on ‘Birthday’ (‘I don’t wanna be loved’) as she rejects affection to the point of exhaustion, or despairing of her own worth on ‘Back To The Radio’: ‘I miss everything now, we’re worth nothing at all’. The climactic payoff, as the instruments try but fail to suppress her, is slightly undercut by somewhat fey keys, but the melodrama is engulfing.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-porridge-radio-waterslide/
Tunnel Visions - Clear Skies
When one thinks of Brighton it’s always as a sunny place, the ocean glistening and the sand blindingly bright in the sun.
But, like any city, it has dark secrets lurking in corners, down side streets and in basements.
Like Tunnel Visions: beginning life as a three-piece, this circus of tricksters have evolved to become seven, their sound a seedy fusion of garage rock and classic British psychedelia. This maiden EP is one part of a story, or experience, based around the dominance of dreams in both day and night.
As the title suggests, the five songs cover the daytime, but it’s less a collection of songs and more of a 20-minute snapshot into their murky world.
As ‘Overground’ opens the band are all braced, seemingly taking a momentary pause before launching into this mini-opus of jangling psychedelia, complete with Syd Barrett intonation and imagery (‘the dust moved their fresh skins around’) before launching into an unsettling gallop with a Peter Gunn-esque guitar lick.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/future-tunnel-visions-clear-skies/
The Smile - A Light For Attracting Attention
Back in 2016, Radiohead, being the rock behemoth they are, released lead single ‘Burn The Witch’ with little fanfare apart from the usual cryptic hints with parent album A Moon Shaped Pool following days later.
In contrast, The Smile have been wilfully drip-feeding releases from their debut album for months, to the point where half of it was freely available prior to its arrival last week.
It’s for the consumer (or the marketing departments) to decide which approach is more effective, but the element of surprise built from The Smile’s debut at Worthy Farm last year has undoubtedly been stifled.
Of course, The Smile are ostensibly a ‘new’ band, but anyone with ears will discern otherwise. Two fifths of Radiohead (Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood) along with ‘sixth’ member, producer Nigel Godrich, make up the group along with Sons Of Kemet drummer Tom Skinner.
Unsurprisingly it sounds a lot like Radiohead, although anything that features Yorke’s distinctive voice does so by default. With that shocking revelation out of the way, does A Light For Attracting Attention stand on its own two feet?
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-the-smile-light-for/
alt-j - Live at the Academy, Bristol - 10th May 2022
It’s often speculated that one needs to have a healthy ego to be a performer, and it’s undeniable that to get up on a stage and either articulate your feelings or show off what specific artistic talent you may have certainly requires confidence, if nothing else.
The very nature of stage performance ordinarily means you are elevated above the attendees, but with a raised platform adorning the stage, alt-J could be said to be overstating the point.
However, knowing them of old (as we now surely do after 10 years), it seems unlikely that the unassuming trio are pursuing a god complex and indeed, the platform ensures that even the shorter members of the crowd can see the three men and compliments impressive visuals.
Bristol’s Academy, with a capacity of 1,500 (the lack of an arena in this part of the world is either a benefit or a crutch, depending on your point of view), is likely to be one of the smaller venues on this spring tour, which works to their strength; the lightshow, set as it is around their platform, is dazzling and the backdrop images (burning embers, sharks, Matrix glitches) brightens the venue, although sadly their music, operating as it does in varying volumes, doesn’t always fill the room.
The Leeds band are one of those acts which bring out a mixed crowd of students, people that are there for a night out (and are generally having a catch-up) and the type of people who recognise one song from an advert.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/review-alt-j-live-bristol/
Arcade Fire - WE
Back in 2007, The Arcade Fire (Win Butler’s definitive article, not your reviewer’s) warned us: ‘I know a time is coming, all words will lose their meaning.’
Lifted from the suitably apocalyptic ‘Black Mirror’ from the Neon Bible album, those words are eerily relevant in the post-truth edge. But where do you go once you’ve predicted the future?
The answer, as has been the case for eight years and three albums, is simply to dance through the dystopian pain. Where 2013’s Reflektor had its moments, the Canadian/French act stumbled on Everything Now five years ago, their marketing plan of presenting themselves as a corporation crossing a line into over-irony, to say nothing of it being an inferior version of its predecessor.
On WE, the shining disco-balls are still present and correct, but they’ve been tempered and toned down to serve the songs rather than dominate them.
Honeyglaze - Honeyglaze
Speedy Wunderground and south London? How can it fail?
Are there any other independent labels with a better hit rate right now? Having represented black midi, Black Country, New Road, Jane Weaver, Squid and Stephen Fretwell (among many others) over the last few years, their newest album release is the latest band on south London’s (England’s creative hotbed) conveyor belt of talent.
Remarkably, Honeyglaze’s lead vocalist and guitarist, Anouska Sokolow, met her bandmates (Tim Curtis on bass and Yuri Shibuichi on drums) officially at their first ever rehearsal, three days prior to their first gig of many at the by-now-legendary venue The Windmill in Brixton.
The first lockdown only briefly knocked them off their stride, and following a live session recorded in a garage, Speedy Wunderground’s head honcho Dan Carey reached out to sign the trio. With prestigious support slots for Wet Leg in the calendar, everything would appear to be primed for Honeyglaze.
This debut should sustain the momentum with ease. It’s an album designed to reward patient listeners, brittle and understated at first but with bucketloads of charm.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/05/honeyglaze-debut-album-review/
Bloc Party - Alpha Games
After racing out of the traps with three albums in four years, Bloc Party left their competitors either for dead or flailing around, trying to catch up with their rapid movement through art-rock, post-punk (in old money), electronica and house-pop.
Yet when the original line-up took the time for a well-earned hiatus, the four-piece went through a turbulent period. The rhythm section left prior to the recording of 2016’s gospel-electro Hymns, which had its moments but felt incomplete, such as it was having only two full-time members present during recording.
Although Justin Harris (bass) and Louise Bartle (drums) were recruited for the supporting tour, it’s taken a further six years to hear the new line-up’s first collaborative efforts.
Pleasingly, Alpha Games is more of a refinement than an overhaul with a healthy balance between new sonic developments (as they were always wont to do) and recognition of what made the group so unique.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/review-bloc-party-alpha-games/
Scalping - Void
Anyone who has been lucky enough to see Scalping live over the last few years may have an idea of what to expect from their debut album Void. A sensory assault from start to finish, at their live shows the quartet batter the audience into submission with their thrilling, unique techno-rock.
Yet while it’s true to surmise that the album represents them well, it also demonstrates that there is much more to the Bristolians than meets the ear. The harsh aesthetics remain on the likes of gnarly, ear-splintering ‘Caller Unknown’, a piece of science-fiction heavy metal and the second track (following the disconcerting, tense opener ‘Blood Club’ which hints at what is to come via Isaac Jones’ cacophonic drums).
https://www.gigwise.com/reviews/3418339/album-review-scalping-void
Ride - Live at The Marble Factory, Bristol - 24th April
It bears repeating that Ride’s reformation must have been one of the most successful of the 1990s bands.
In all aspects they are going from strength to strength, likely to benefit from Andy Bells’ impressed prolificity (at last count he’s released approximately 50 new collections of music in the last two years) and in the live arena, which tonight’s gig emphatically proves.
Cut as they are from similarly-noise-epic cloth, bdrmm provide excellent support and warm things up nicely, from the uneasy ‘Push/Pull’ to the two-piece ‘Happy/(Un) Happy’, two songs on their debut album but here amalgamated into one.
The first half is snappy shoegaze where the second is all wrought vocals and brooding atmospherics before they close on the uplifting ‘A Reason To Celebrate’.
Their debut album Bedroom was one of the highlights of 2020 and with recent single, the bristling ‘Port’, having been subject to a whole remix EP (with the likes of Daniel Avery and Working Men’s Club offering their interpretations), the next phase of their career promises to be fascinating.
But while bdrmm have a bright future, their spiritual forebears Ride are tonight focusing on the past, both distant and recent. Playing their debut album Nowhere in full (plus associated tracks from their Fall EP), the ferocious hurdy-gurdy clatter of Seagull instantly transports the crowd to a better place (even though this tour was originally due to take place in 2020, etc etc) with both Mark Gardener and Andy Bell’s proffering soothing balms on lead vocals and guitars.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/review-ride-marble-factory-bristol/
Interview - Isaac Holman, Slaves and Baby Dave
Spring is here and with it comes the additional responsibility for house-owners of sorting out their garden.
For circa six months the greenery would likely have been neglected and, while to some weeding and trimming is an arduous task, it does have its benefits for both physical and mental wellbeing.
“You’re just back to basics. You’re keeping yourself busy and nurturing things, back to nature. There’s so many reasons why it’s good for you. It proper sorted me out. I keep thinking that I want to get back into it somehow and do the music. I think I’m going to work out a way to do both.”
So opines Isaac Holman, lead singer of punk-rock duo Slaves and the architect behind new project Baby Dave.
Shortly before the pandemic, Holman and Laurie Vincent decided, for a variety of intensely sad reasons, to put Slaves on ice for a period. Both had their reasons; in Holman’s case it was down to what amounted to a mental breakdown, a result of several years of the rock ‘n roll lifestyle.
“My life was crazy for a long time,” he tells us. “Apart from the touring and stuff I had no real structure. I wasn’t looking after myself, there was a bit of substance abuse going on. I just wasn’t looking after myself.”
“Bottling things up and doing stupid shit, just not feeling good about myself. I have OCD tendencies too. My whole life I’ve done weird things but never really acknowledged it.”
“When all this stuff (lockdowns) happened, it was the perfect storm and my OCD got really bad. I had this meltdown and it was completely debilitating. I definitely think my life in Slaves had a big role to play in me and my head.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/interview-baby-dave-isaac-holman/
Spiritualized - Everything Was Beautiful
While the lockdowns were awful for most, as someone who actively chooses self-isolation as a way of getting by in the world it was something of a balm for Jason Pierce.
Finally afforded the peace and quiet which would allow the noises and music in his head a chance to breathe, Pierce re-commenced word on some of the demos that didn’t make the cut from his last album, 2018’s And Nothing Hurt.
Everything Was Beautiful does work as a companion piece of sorts (as noted by the linking titles, which taken in reverse order are a quotation from Kurt Vonnegut’s 1969 novel Slaughterhouse Five) to the previous album, but only in the way that all Spiritualized albums refer to each other.
Indeed, this album opens with a reading of the title, this time from Pierce’s daughter Poppy, in the same style that his then-girlfriend Kate Radley read the name of 1997’s seminal Ladies And Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space. The pharmaceutically-themed artwork can’t entirely be a coincidence either.
All the familiar Spiritualized sounds are here, but since Pierce has never been reluctant to throw the kitchen sink into his oceans of noise, such a statement is meaningless.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/review-spiritualized-everything/
Interview - Pillow Queens
Amidst the lockdowns of 2020, September saw the release of Pillow Queens’ debut album In Waiting through their own label.
A collection of songs linked by an underlying message of inclusivity and unity, it received a warm response with an 8/10 review in the NME, 5/5 from The Irish Times, and made it onto numerous End Of Year lists.
Despite the accolades it’s human nature to doubt or to suffer from imposter syndrome, and the four-piece were no different.
“There was no gigs happening, we produced our first album and it had gone down really well, but when you can’t play the songs live it’s like, ‘do people really like this?’,” Pamela Connolly, lead vocalist, guitarist and bassist told Live4ever when we met with them at South by Southwest 2022. “You don’t know.”
“We didn’t have the benefit of touring the album so we couldn’t see physically see people reacting to it,” lead guitarist Cathy McGuinness added. “Is it being well-received or not?”
Any doubt that In Waiting had captured people’s imaginations were soon cast aside as the group were approached by independent label Royal Mountain Records and the publishing arm of the legendary Sub Pop.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/live4ever-interview-pillow-queens/
Manic Street Preachers - Clwb Ifor Bach - 31st March 2022
In October 1990, Manic Street Preachers were due to play at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach but had to pull out, for the very good reason that they were signing their first record contract. Or least, so goes the legend, but Nicky Wire isn’t quite so sure. ‘It was either that we were signing to Heavenly which sounds familiar to me, or that I was having an operation on my neck because I had glandular fever,’ he told Huw Stephens on BBC6 Music shortly before the gig. ‘I’m not quite sure which one it was, but I’m glad we’re repaying the debt, finally after all these years.’
Forever Delayed indeed. 14 albums and 32 albums later, they’re back in the Welsh capital to write that wrong for a special (‘This is sacred ground.’) homecoming (ish, give or take 18 miles) show If they had sounded anywhere near as vital and alive as this (which is a fair assumption), it would have been some gig.
One would expect the atmosphere to be electric in a such a small venue before one of the country’s biggest and best bands take to the stage, and the 200 lucky punters in attendance crackle accordingly. Launching straight into ‘Motorcycle Emptiness’, the scene is ably set and the melancholic rocker sets a benchmark that would be impossible to sustain, were it not being followed by the series of musical explosions that is From Despair To Where.
The excitement largely comes from both the venue size and the unknown: having not performed since December, predicting the Manic’s setlist was difficult, but the band balance proceedings for this special occasion perfectly, like the masters of their craft they are. With the excellent The Ultra Vivid Lament barely six months old, it would have been understandable if they had wanted to showcase some of their newest material. But sixth album Know Your Enemy has just reached a significant milestone (21 years) and gets it’s chance in the limelight with no lack of crowd-pleasing hits comprising the rest of the set, alongside a few other surprises.
Time has been kind to Know Your Enemy. ‘His Last Painting’ grumbles and growls, James Dean Bradfield intricately immersing himself in his guitar, while the gloriously breezy The Year Of Purification (one of their countless ‘should have been a single’ offerings) glistens beautifully. The 2001 tracks bookmark the robotic shuffle/grenades of 1999 single ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’ and the regal ‘Still Snowing In Sapparo’ from last year.
Before introducing the latter, Nicky Wire (looking every bit as majestic as you would hope from 10 feet away) acknowledges the crowd and is in reminiscent mood, recalling previous shows in the Welsh capital, noting that their hottest gig was at the Astoria was also likely the last time they played the wiry (no pun intended) Methadone Pretty. Bradfield also engages in good camaraderie with the audience; when certain members throw in requests such as Faster or, amusingly, ‘I Killed The Zeitgeist’ (a Wire solo track), the singer jokingly responds, ‘We’re not a fucking human jukebox you know!’
The set highlights the responsibilities Bradfield carries on his shoulders. As well as lead vocals and guitar (and what a fabulous guitarist he is), he sings all lyrics on duets such as ‘Your Love Alone Is Not Enough’ (admittedly with some assistance from an eager and willing crowd), ‘The Secret He Had Missed’ and ‘Blank Diary Entry’, filling in for Nina Persson, Julia Cumming and Mark Lanegan respectively.
The recent passing of the latter is acknowledged by Bradfield, who voices his concern that his attempt to match the American legend’s gravitas may be found wanting yet it’s a more than noble effort. Also in tribute, drummer Sean Moore is adorned in a Taylor Hawkins T-shirt and pounds his skins relentlessly in such a vein that would have made the Foo Fighters man proud. A word too for keyboardist Nick Nasmyth, who always serves the song, adding subtlety and innocence to the likes of ‘You Stole The Sun From My Heart’ and grandiosity (‘A Design For Life’) as required.
Bradfield’s burden is briefly shared on ‘Spectators Of Suicide’ as Welsh musician Gwenno supplies elegance, poise and a reminder that, although it may be thankfully unremarkable these days, Manic Street Preachers have long been leading the charge for feminism in rock music. Elsewhere, ‘If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next’, their only No.1 single, resonates perhaps more than it ever has done.
Tonight’s show displays everything you want from a) a rock gig and b) Manic Street Preachers themselves, complete with whirlwind rotations from Bradfield and scissor kicks from Wire, despite his doubts earlier in the day; ‘The 53-year old back sinews are not quite what they were, so I think I’ll be alright!’
Jaunts down memory lane occur in Wire’s recollections, but also looks to the future with the newer material. As an extra treat for the lucky punters, the group also cover Madonna’s 1984 single ‘Borderline’ before a closing salvo of the mischievously arrogant ‘You Love Us’ and a cathartic ‘A Design For Life’, overexposure having done nothing to dent it’s power, along with a shout out to Richey Edwards: gone but never, ever, forgotten.
An emotional and devastatingly powerful way to start the weekend, the first show of the first ‘real life’ 6Music Festival for three years has commenced with one hell of a bang. Manic Street Preachers threw down the gauntlet with panache and style. IDLES, Little Simz, Johnny Marr et al had their work cut out for them.
Jack White - Fear Of The Dawn
In as much as one can be expected to muster up sympathy for a multi-million-selling, Grammy-award winning, household name rock star, it must be frustrating to be Jack White sometimes.
An artist in the truest sense, no matter which muses he follows he is and will always be best known for his guitar proficiency. The response to 2018’s Boarding House Reach (his last solo album) – which was garnished with synths and jazzy refrains – was tepid at best.
His belated response? Two albums released in the space of three months. While the second, Entering Heaven Alive, is promised to showcase his acoustic side, on Fear Of The Dawn, he lets rip in his own unique way.
The main takeaway from his fourth solo record is that he’s having fun again which, for a man who is always portrayed as cantankerous, is unique enough.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/review-jack-white-fear-of-dawn/
Brits & Pieces - Volume III
Labours of love can be thankless things.
To dedicate one’s heart and soul to a project, be it writing a book or re-organising the garden, takes time but the effort, and indeed the entire project, can often pass unheralded to all but the creator. It’s not why they do it, but some acknowledgement would be nice.
Therefore it was pleasing to see the first two Brits & Pieces compilations enter the UK Album Charts at 54 then 52 in late 2020/early 2021.
For the unaware, these CDs aspire to be the ‘Shine’ series for the 21st century, an initiative set up by one man (Marc Rossiter) and his Twitter account to promote new and unsigned music.
Why a labour of love? Because Rossiter ensures that all royalties go straight to the artists included which, in a music industry that’s been particularly starved of cash for the last two years, clearly signals that the venture is worthy of your time if nothing else.
Fortunately it’s not just the gesture that impresses. This new collection (Volume III, naturally) is stocked with a selection of tracks which illustrate the healthy status of British music.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/review-brits-and-pieces-iii/
2022 BBC 6 Music Festival - Cardiff
Credit: Jamie Simonds & the BBC
Having recently commemorated 20 years on air, BBC 6 Music, in keeping with their ethos of always looking forward, has already moved on to the next thing.
After a two-year break, the festival returns to live action with a maiden visit to Cardiff; the Great Hall, ordinarily the Student Union for Cardiff University, is the main hub for this year’s event, with Saturday’s trio of acts all previewing new material.
beabadoobee opens proceedings, although the Filipino-British songwriter largely plays things safe with only one track from forthcoming album Beatopia included in the set.
New single Talk sits comfortably within her diverse canon, as the songs included only have one common denominator: her lilting, near-angelic voice which masks a steely under-current.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/04/johnny-marr-wet-leg-6-music/
Crows - Beware Believers
Back in 2019, after their debut album Silver Tongues had received a warm response, with momentum behind them London rock outfit Crows immediately set to work on the follow-up.
You can assuredly guess the initial reason for the delay, but such is the way of the modern rock star that, without the capability to tour the record, there seemed little point in releasing a new album even as restrictions began to lift.
Now, with ‘normality’ returned (just ignore the spiralling COVID infections), and the light previously found at the end of the tunnel dazzling in its ubiquity, the time is nigh to unleash Beware Believers upon the world.
In my interview with them last month, the band spoke of strings and tweaks, but fans can rest assured that no rough edges have been smoothed away.
Opening track ‘Closer Stil'l’ starts fuzzily before bludgeoning the listener as frontman James Cox’s voice rises from the depths like Lucifer to deliver a sweet chorus above the hurricane roaring beneath him.
https://www.live4ever.uk.com/2022/03/review-crows-beware-believers/