Next month in music

A quick rundown of musical things that look good between now and the end of July, generally a pretty quiet time on the music scene:
Thursday 24 June 2010 (tonight!)
Midsummer House Party @ The Whitworth Art Gallery

A folky evening gig at a beautiful art gallery ten minutes walk from my new home? Its like if Carling put on gigs (though of course they do and they’re nothing special, but you know what I mean). Pull Yourself Together, Manchester’s indiepop fanzine and clubnight have singer songwriters Edmund Cottam and Christopher Eatough before PYT DJs play some tunes. For Folk’s Sake, the huge folk website, have poets Gemma O'Neil and Jackie Hagan. Also playing are Jam on bread and the Chantilly Belles. All relative unknowns to me but look like they will combine to make a splendid evening. There’s also some craftiness (what, like it wasn’t twee enough?), a bar and the whole thing is free. It’d be a crime to miss it.
Friday 25 June 2010 (tomorrow!)
The Middle East @ The Deaf Institute

This Australian band’s EP, The Recordings of the Middle East, has barely been off my ipod. Their music is indie/folk/bit of everything, and very much worth catching.

Tuesday 29 June 2010
Johnny Flynn @ Academy 3

English folk singer who’s been around for a while now and has played with Laura Marling. This will be a lovely gig to promote his new album Been Listening.

Saturday 3 July 2010
Noah and the Whale @ Manchester Cathedral

They need no introduction as the pioneers of the new British folk scene. Enjoy them in very special surroundings.

Later in July…Latitude! Pick of the festival to come

The Mark Addy, Manchester

Its difficult to know whether the Mark Addy counts as a hidden gem or not. On the one hand its been around for ages, has always done good business, and has been feted by Manchester Confidential quite a lot recently. On the other hand its on the other side of the River Irwell. Like, in Salford. This means that a large proportion of Manchester would never consider going there. But its only just over the river (five-ten minutes walk from Albert Square), and is one of the few places in Manchester/Salford to take advantage of the waterways rather than stubbornly ignore them. If you can walk through the weird brown tunnel thing and down the stairs you will be rewarded with a very charming riverside terrace, which on a hot weekday lunchtime was very welcome indeed.

The Mark Addy has received so much attention from Manchester Confidential because of its executive chef, Robert Owen-Brown. He has to run a number of pubs in the area, all of which were praised for their food, all of which closed. So hopefully he’s on to a safer bet with the institution that is the Mark Addy. The stand-out menu item is the cheese and pate board, which was hugely enjoyed by a number of people in our group. The range of local cheeses was brilliant, and the only complaint was that you could only choose one if you wanted pate too. Why not be generous and let people get two or three cheeses, maybe upping the price if necessary? As it was lunchtime we didn’t really take advantage of the hot mains menu, and most had sandwiches and chips, which were fine, but hardly the stuff of rave reviews. I decided to try one of the tempting starters with chips on the side. I chose the coddled egg with shrimp and soldiers. It was tasty, with the little brown shrimp buried at the bottom of the egg cup. However the pile of soldiers were far too large in number for the size of the dish, and I soon ran out of anything to dip them in. It was of course a starter but a little more generosity wouldn’t go amiss for seven quid. The chips were an inviting brown, but were soggy rather than crispy, and didn’t taste like they’d been made fresh.

The dreamy location by the river with the sun beating down on us was an all-round winner, and the service was good. Just wish I hadn’t left feeling a bit let down by the food.

Lissie + Alan Pownall @ Night and Day, Manchester, 17 June 2010

Its unusual to arrive at Night and Day on a Thursday evening and find a queue halfway up the street, but it signals that the popularity tipping point may have been reached for Illinois-born Lissie. Real name Lissie Maurus, the 27 year old has her first album, Catching a Tiger, out on Columbia on Monday and the recent single When I'm Alone has been getting quite a lot of airplay. I had been listening to her EP, Why You Runnin' on repeat, and was keen to see if she was as good live as she sounded on record.

But before she came on it was joint headliner Alan Pownall. He struggled somewhat, as a large part of the crowd, who had clearly come for Lissie, talked loudly throughout his set and he had to repeat himself a number of times. A song of his, Take Me, I'd heard previously and he began with the reggae-tinged number. He has a kind of Jason Mraz thing going on combined with a bit of Jack Johnson - whether you see this as a good thing or not is purely down to taste. I can see clear songwriting talent but he wasn't to Mr Noggin's liking. What was clear was that he is being heavily pushed by his label, with flyers and leaflets everywhere, but there was a blandness to some of the songs that contrasted with potential hits such as Colourful Day. To be honest, I probably won't buy the album. No doubt he'll do well anyway.

The crowd were good and attentive for Lissie, who got huge cheers. She started off with my absolute favourite, Wedding Bells, which has strangely not been included on the album. Its a yearning song of lost love which has been known to make girls cry on first listen. The crowd were visibly more animated by single When I'm Alone, and by her popular Lady Gaga cover Bad Romance. As a non-Gaga fan, they left me kind of cold. Much more interesting was the proper country track Oh Mississippi and Everywhere I Go, which gave her a chance to show off her really very spectacular voice.

It was a funny old gig, and I have to be honest, I turned into a bit of a music snob about it. A lot of the crowd maybe didn't go to gigs that often and were really irritating to those who were just trying to hear the music. Plus I had the underlying feeling that both Lissie and Alan had talents that were in danger of being diluted into bland folky-pop in order to appeal to the mainstream. That being said, there was some great spine-tingly moments that I wouldn't have missed for the world, and I will definitely keep an eye on these two.

PS. Apologies for the terrible photos, I blame it on the light!

Music at the moment

Just a short post to enthuse about the music that is getting repeated on the ipod right now:

The whole Broken Bells album: Its early days, but this is turning into one of my favourite albums. Ever. Yeah, I went there. It’s the perfect mix of beats and guitars, unsurprising as the band is made up of Brian Burton (Dangermouse) and James Mercer (The Shins)

Ratatat – Bare Feast: A joyous extravaganza of Indian beats

April Smith and the Great Picture Show – Colors: a fun song that has you singing along by the second listen

The Middle East - Recordings of the Middle East: Their debut EP, at least three brilliant songs out of five.

Chaophraya, Manchester

As we wandered through empty streets we smugly imagined we would have the place to ourselves. England’s first World Cup match was on and pubs and living rooms were packed out with fans, surely we would be the only people heading for Thai food in a football-free space? It says an awful lot about the popularity of Chaophraya that as we were led upstairs we realised the place was still packed out, like some clandestine anti-football protest.

The two storey restaurant has been beautifully decorated with Buddha heads, fresh flowers and floor cushions if you fancy trying out a Thai tradition. It wasn’t my first time there, and I had some favourites on the menu (Paew Wan Pollomai with beef comes highly recommended), but decided to opt for new dishes, to expand my knowledge of Thai cuisine. After trying some Thai-style prawn crackers, we picked the Golden Treasures platter to start, and it came over on a huge plate, placed on a stand on the table. This was impressive stuff, not just in size but in the beautiful presentation and the variety of the food. The somtum salad was just too hot for us, but everything else was a hit. Favourites included the honey marinated pork, strangely dry but still delicious, Gung Chup Pang Tod, a battered prawn dish, and beautifully flavoured minced crabmeat, pork and prawn.

Mains included more prawns – Kung Phu Kao Fui, gargantuan King Prawns cooked in red wine and flambéed in brandy at the table. The prawns were fantastic, although both the red wine and brandy flavours could have packed more of a punch . I had what looked like an odd dish on the menu, a fruity curry with duck, called Gaeng Sii Ruedue. No, I didn’t attempt to pronounce it. Still, it was really tasty, with cherry tomatoes and pineapple cutting through the creamy Thai curry sauce. Plus they let me take the leftovers home and it tasted even better the next day!

The service at Chaophraya is legendary, full of smiles and kindness. They have an above average number of staff and you rarely wait long for anything. They have the knack of giving you an expensive-feeling restaurant experience, and then surprising you with a reasonable bill. Go now, but don’t expect it to be quiet - this place is no longer a secret, and rightly so.

Chaophraya is on Chapel Walks, off Cross St. You know, near where Grinch and the chophouse are.

Columbo @ The Lowry, 9 June 2010

As we approached the Lowry, across the bridge from the Harbour City tram stop, we were pleasantly surprised. Look at all these young people heading to watch Columbo, we said. Surprising, you’d expect an older crowd, we said. As we entered the arts centre it all became clear. Derren Brown was playing the larger Lyric Theatre on the same night. In fact out of the six nights Columbo is playing (Monday 7 June til Saturday 12 June), four clash with the mighty Derren, and we were worried about the turn out. We needn’t have been. Apparently the A Team’s Dirk Benedict playing one of TV’s most cherished detectives is still a big draw. Maybe its all part of the eighties revival?

The Quays Theatre is a great space, and feels a bit like a David Lynch film, as somebody remarked on their way to their seats. The theme appears to be red, and it creates a rather cosy Club Silencio-esque atmosphere.

The play is based on the pilot episode of the TV series in which a psychiatrist kills his wife, assisted by his glamorous mistress. The idea with Columbo is you know who committed the murder from the beginning, so the episode follows Columbo solving the crime, which develops into a battle of wits between Dr Flemming and the detective. Mr Noggin is a die-hard Columbo fan so thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience, and I have to say I was charmed by the whole thing too. It helps that I have a serious weakness for detective dramas. Box set of Lewis? Don’t mind if I do.

The audience was full of Columbo fans, as well as the odd group of women who had clearly attended to see Dirk in the flesh, and I doubt many went home disappointed.
Benedict and Patrick Ryecart as Dr Flemming were both marvellous. Benedict captured Peter Falk’s portrayal perfectly, with all the mannerisms and phrasing just right. The female supporting cast struggled with their American accents a little, but did a fine job. The sets were great and really set the retro scene for the audience, but they took a rather long time to change between scenes. I guess this is the problem of adapting a TV episode to the stage, but to be honest it didn’t really bother us, in fact it added to the anticipation. It was a jolly fun evening as we unravelled the how-dunnit along with the cast, and I didn’t pine for Derren once.

Columbo, Quays Theatre, The Lowry, Salford, til Saturday 12, £14-20

How do you find new music?

Being into music is a choice. It is something that require time, effort and dedication. In my experience there are some people who have been actively interested in the music scene since they were young, whereas some people drift in and out, go through phases maybe. Of course some people simply don’t care for music, although I think we can agree these people shouldn’t be trusted.

So how do you find new music?

Friends’ recommendations? Browsing myspace? Gigs and festivals? Blogs? The radio? Podcasts? Daily emails like Track in the Box?

This question is interesting to me, as somebody who was very into finding new music in my teens, drifted away during my early twenties, content to listen to my current music collection and gigging only sporadically, but has become much more interested over the past couple of years.

At one time or another I have discovered music I love through all of these channels. I think most people would put friends’ recommendations near the top of their list. Our friends know us, know what we like, may like the same music, we may even be friends with them through shared musical taste.

I like listening to the radio, especially 6music, to hear new bands, whereas Mr Noggin doesn’t, and would much rather browse through myspace, linking through to friends of bands he likes to independently discover his new music. Interestingly he also claims that Amazon's "people who bought this also bought..." feature is one of his most reliable sources.

There is one place that has been a surprisingly rich vein from which to extract new musical passions: Blalock’s Indie Rock Playlist. Josh Blalock releases a block of around 100 new tracks each month that he has found or been sent, and he has clearly got a great ear for these things as I have found so many artists I now love through him. He places it on his website for free as a torrent or mega upload, but I doubt many would protest at the file sharing as it is a good way for new artists to reach the ears of a large and enthusiastic audience.

I’ll end the post with a couple of links to tracks I found through Blalock. The first is Willis by Sea of Bees, a female singer-songwriter from California called Jules, and the second is Cracks by Bristol-based Jane Taylor. Enjoy!

Dancin' and that

Manchester indie clubs tend to have a “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” policy, and this seems to work as they have a cultish year in year out following. Excellent examples include Clint Boon's Disco Rescue at South on a Saturday (though they struggle to fill it on a Friday), Mojos, the Venue, Fab Cafe and the more recent Propaganda @ Moho Live. Now I am not about to lay into this at all. When I moved back to Manchester from darkest Birmingham in 2006 I enthusiastically embraced this scene and heaped praise upon the loyalty to Manchester music that the DJs had. Countless times I had my hands in the air for I am the Resurrection at 3:25am on a Sunday morning, and no doubt it will happen again in the future. But things can become stale and two nights have recently waltzed on to the scene with a refreshingly modern take on things, and very welcome they are:

Underachievers Please Try Harder @ Saki Bar
Every 2nd and last Saturday of the month

Named after a Camera Obscura album, the list of bands on the flyer was too appealing to resist – The National, Jeffrey Lewis, Radiohead, Belle & Sebastian, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart all feature. The organisers cleverly combine live bands downstairs til midnight with an indie disco upstairs til 3am. Don’t expect much from the décor, it’s a pretty basic place on the edge of Rusholme and their self-confessed aim is to create a house party atmosphere, but when we went the bar was nice and quiet, everyone was friendly and there was plenty of space to throw some shapes. Since I will soon be living just ten minutes walk away, this ticks all my boxes.

Now Wave @ The Deaf Institute
Every Wednesday

Not so ideal for a Monday-Friday worker like me, but still so so tempting, Now Wave, who are putting on some of the most excellent gigs in the city at the moment, are also combining them on a Wednesday with a disco in the lovely Music Hall at the Deaf Institute. They guarantee not to play anything over two years old, and favourites include Passion Pit, Fleet Foxes, MGMT, M.I.A. and Animal Collective. Worth a days holiday wouldn’t you say?

Dette of Gratitude w/ Race Horses, Emmy the Great, Beth Jeans Houghton and Field Music @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 2 June 2010

It was as if the gig gods knew I needed something good after the mediocre-fest of Dot to Dot. I was having a read of some blogs and noticed this post. Emmy the Great at the Deaf Institute this week? How had I not clocked that one? So tickets were duly bought and we moseyed on down after work at around 8pm to get some quality Trof burgers before the show. As we walked in though we noticed the line-up posted on the door: The Acorn were starting imminently, followed by a band called Race Horses, Emmy the Great, Beth Jeans Houghton and topped off at 11 with another chance to see Field Music. That is a ridiculously good bill! As it turned out, the event had actually been put on as a surprise leaving party for a local lady called Bernie Phillips. Over the years she has accommodated bands playing and recording in the city in her home, and is now heading off to live in Canada, so there was a very sweet tone to the whole evening, even if we did feel a little like gate crashers!

The need for food unfortunately took precedent, and we missed The Acorn, which was a real shame. But we got upstairs in time to catch Race Horses and I am so glad we did – they were delightful. Although they hailed from Cardiff they had a Liverpool Beatles-esque sound, with a dash of the Wombats (that’s a compliment!). They were full of energy and smiled throughout the set, and they had some beautiful harmonies – I do love a male harmony. They really impressed the crowd and got a great reception. We bought their album so will get a review up here soon.

Emmy the Great was up next, and she was as remarkable as I expected. She read out a message to Bernie from the Howling Bells before cantering through some tracks from First Love. Although she was on stage on her own for most of the set, the songs sounded as great as they did on the album because her voice is so flawless. Highlights of a brilliant set were the candid We Almost Had a Baby, and Absentee with its hymn-like refrain Kyrie Eleison reminding me of mass as a child.

The evening was turning into one of the best gigs I’d been to in ages. It was lovely to sit in the wonderful Music Hall with a perfect view of these truly talented people performing little half hour sets. A friend once argued that 40 minutes is the most he ever likes to watch anything for, be it music or any other performance, and I’m starting to see his point.

It was difficult to imagine how you could follow Emmy’s set but wow, did Beth Jeans Houghton impress. I had heard a track or two of hers on the radio before but never had a proper listen, but she’s next on my list for back-catalogue buying. After a few words from Marc Riley paying tribute to Bernie and the evening which was apparently Beth’s idea, she came on in an Dolly Parton style outfit and wig and with a band dressed in a messed-up Marie Antoinette get-up. The set was song after joyful song combining traditional guitar and drums with trumpet-playing, Jarvis-style spoken word and a wonderful cover of Devil in Disguise. I loved every second of it and did not want it to end.

Finally the special guests Field Music came on. Having described them as bland in my Dot to Dot review, I was ready to put that down to a bad day, and in some ways I was able to. They were four lads who could play their instruments very well and obviously enjoyed playing with each other. They mentioned that this was their first gig in three years without a set list and they really had fun with it, improvising as they went along. The drum beat is the focus of most of the songs, which makes the sound somewhat flat and repetitive, and I can’t help thinking three guitars makes it too heavy, but although they’re not my thing the crowd liked them and they were a good end to an excellent night. The whole evening had been a real treat – Bernie must be pretty special.

Dot to Dot, Manchester

When it came to writing this review, I was struggling. The problem could be down to a number of things: the uninspiring Academy venues, the dodgy sound and organisation, the downgrading of the shows from Academy 1 so that most shows were packed to the rafters, the nice weather that meant it was a shame to be crammed into a sweaty dark basement at 6pm or the festival decisions that have to be made by committee. It was probably a combination of all of these but the fact remains: the memory I have of the inaugural Manchester Dot to Dot is of a series of mediocre gigs. I feel terrible saying that as it is rude to the many, many talented and hard-working bands on the bill, and there were some highlights, but as a festival? It didn’t work for me.

When you go to a festival with a group of people, unless you are happy to spend the day alone, sacrifices have to be made. A few days before the Bank Holiday Monday I had decided to forego the lovely folky line-up at the Deaf Institute – Alan Pownall, The Crookes and Lissie – to stick with friends who were keen to see the rest of the line-up at the Academy venues. From what I heard on the day a lot of people made this decision, leaving the Deaf Institute crowd a bit sparse.

So the day began with Goldheart Assembly (above) in Academy 3, who were really quite good. They’ve been around for a little while now and this came across in their confident show. They look hairy and intense, but there is a surprising lightness of touch to their songs, my favourite being the gentle So Long St Christopher which was released last year. The band was a popular choice and the room was packed and hot, but this couldn’t spoil the enjoyment.

We then wandered downstairs to Club Academy to have a listen to Washed Out, which was nice in a chilled out, background music kind of way. Again, venue was packed so we sat it out in the bar area at the back. Still, Club Academy is vying with Ruby Lounge and Islington Mill for worst designed venue in town.

We spent the rest of the evening wandering up and down the stairs between Academy 2 and Club Academy. Blood Red Shoes were loud and enthusiastic, and could have easily filled the main Academy. Field Music were bland in my opinion, as were Liars, but friends of mine would beg to differ as Liars were a favourite of the day and there was a lot of love going round for lead singer Angus Andrew. Watching Twisted Wheel (above) was like being at an underage disco full of twats, but the acoustic song the singer performed was a welcome break for the ears.

And so to the only band who gave me that good gig feeling: Beach House (above). I’d seen them at Islington Mill early in the year and they were spectacular, and Teen Dream is shaping up to be one of my favourite albums of the year. They didn’t disappoint at Dot to Dot, Victoria Legrand’s vocals are soulful and dreamy, and the crowd sang along to Take Care, Norway and Used to Be.

We decided that this couldn’t be topped, and sloped off home soon after. On reflection, the line-up would have to be pretty special to tempt me next year - I think I’ll leave it to the students.