When music venues are closing on what seems like a daily basis, it’s heartening to see the success of places like The Finsbury. It’s taken a few years of building and investment, but The Finsbury’s now well established on the small gig circuit delivering a programme of music and comedy seven days a week. Which brings us to an excellent triple bill on a wintry Tuesday night in March featuring Brian Grogan, Ringlefinch and The Eskies; it wasn’t a packed house, but the enthusiasm of the crowd and the bands more than made up for that.
Brian Grogan opened the evening with a set of confessional songs focussed on fears of sexual inadequacy (plus a very interesting cover) backed by a striking combination of sparkling Rickenbacker, fretless bass and cajon and some superb harmonies. With a voice that has a strong resemblance to Ian (or Iain) Matthews, he couldn’t really go wrong. And the cover; well, it was a soft-rock version of the theme from “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”, with a few snippets from other tunes thrown in to create a live mash-up. Mad idea, really, but it worked.
Ringlefinch were next up, taking the tempo and volume up a few notches before the headliners with a bunch of songs full of lyrical invention and interesting arrangements featuring mandolin, resonator bass, ukulele, banjo and guitar. All good fun and topped off with a lively cover of Tom Lehrer’s “Masochism Tango” for good measure.
How do you describe The Eskies? Well, I asked their tour manager and he was struggling with the concept, but I’ll have a go anyway. You’ll find elements of klezmer, Gaelic folk, gypsy jazz, spirituals and American ragtime in there seasoned with a healthy sprinkling of the craic between songs. Oh, and a huge dollop of fun. Despite the raggle-taggle appearance, the musicianship was extraordinarily tight as the band navigated its way through rhythm, tempo and key changes at breakneck speed throughout their set, throwing in some exquisite four-part harmonies as well. The set leaned heavily on material from the debut album “After the Sherry went Round”, including “Fever”, “Down, Down, Down”, “Down by the River”, “Chin up Jack”, “Shame” and the current single “Jesus Don’t Save Me”. And there you go; a live set that left the audience gurning like loons and breathless with admiration. What more would you want from a gig?
If you want to catch this experience, you can still see The Eskies live during the remainder of their UK tour.
Forget about the warnings of storms, sub-zero temperatures and torrential rain, there’s a more elemental force coming in over the Irish Sea to the UK in the first couple of weeks in March; The Eskies are coming over to beat you into submission with a high-octane mixture of folk, jazz, klezmer and vaudeville. Picture a New Orleans jazz band jamming with The Chieftains and Gogol Bordello and it might sound a little bit like this. If the download-only single “Jesus Don’t Save Me” gets anywhere close to representing their live set, this tour could be quite a ride.
The single has a gypsy jazz feel that intensifies in the second half of the song through a few key changes and builds up towards an ending that leaves you wondering what on earth is coming next. And that’s just three minutes’ worth. But don’t take my word for it, have a look for yourself:
If you fancy seeing this maelstrom live, the English tour starts in March and you can see them here:
Fri 4 Nottingham Bodega
Sat 5 Bedford Esquires (with CC Smugglers)
Sun 6 Milton Keynes The Stables
Tue 8 London The Finsbury
Wed 9 Stroud The Prince Albert
Thu 10 Bristol The Old Duke
Fri 11 Newquay Whiskers
Sat 12 Falmouth Princess Pavilion (with Mad Dog Mcrea)
Sun 13 Birmingham The Rainbow Courtyard (with Mad Dog Mcrea)
We’ll be witnessing the mayhem as they take the roof off The Finsbury in London, and anyone catching the shows with Mad Dog Mcrea should be seeing something very special indeed.
2014 wasn’t a great gig year for me, so I decided to catch up in 2015 by getting my cameras along to every gig I could possibly get to. It obviously worked; when I had to pick my favourite five photos of the year, I had difficulty narrowing it down, so I decided to cheat. I’ve seen a lot of female singers this year, so I decided to create a High Five dedicated to them. As always, in no particular order.
Mollie Marriott at The Half Moon – By the time I saw this gig, it felt a bit like I was stalking Mollie. I’d seen her play live three times in three months. This gig was her second at The Half Moon with her full band and it wasn’t quite as busy as the first so there was a bit of space to pick some nice angles and just wait for Mollie to get completely absorbed in her songs and try to catch some special moments. She’s a singer who totally commits herself to the song and all you have to do is press the shutter release at the right time.
Elisa Zoot of Black Casino & the Ghost at The Finsbury – I’ve loved this band since I was introduced to them by John O’Sullivan of Red Adore Music. They’re totally original and Elisa has a phenomenal voice. It’s a little bit weird when you suddenly transform from two people talking in a pub beer garden to a photographer and a performer within fifteen minutes, but it’s always good to get a chance to get to know the artist. The lighting wasn’t great, but there was a lot of contrast, so black and white was the way to go. It’s good to know that Elisa likes this photo as well.
Rosanne Cash at The Union Chapel – I have to say I got a very lucky break here. When I discovered that Dean Owens was playing as support to Rosanne Cash, it was full-on grovel mode with Dean’s manager, Morag to try to get a photo pass but, as always, Morag came up with the goods. It’s always an interesting shot at this venue if you can get the stained glass window in, but Rosanne Cash happened to look heavenward at exactly the right time to make this work. Maybe I need to rethink the atheism thing.
Amy
Nova Twins at FTFH, Birthdays, Dalston – FTFH is a monthly event at Birthdays promoting female performers and Nova Twins were topping the bill with their intriguing and eclectic mash-up of rock, hip-hop and punk attitudes. The lighting was decent and Amy and Georgia’s style and stage presence made it pretty much impossible to take a bad shot. I finally settled on this picture of Amy because of the attitude and power and the nice mix of colours in the background, but I could have chosen any one of a dozen shots from this gig.
Hannah Aldridge at Green Note – Green Note’s a venue where you have to put in a bit of effort to get a good shot. I went along to this gig on the strength of Hannah’s stunning debut album, “Razor Wire” and I wasn’t disappointed. I had just moved around the stage to get a slightly different viewpoint when Hannah introduced a new song “Gold Rush” which was incredibly powerful and completely enthralled the audience. I think the shot just about captures the emotion she was pouring in to that song.
Just click on any of the thumbnails to see the picture at full size.
We’ve been waiting for this one for a while now, and I’m chuffed to say it was well worth the wait. The second Black Casino and the Ghost album, “Until the Water Runs Clear” is packed with great individual performances, but the great strength is the way they work together as a band. Elisa Zoot’s voice is stunning and Ariel Lerner’s guitar playing is faultless across a range of styles, but Paul Winter-Hart (drums) and Gary Kilminster play a huge part in the band’s sound, supplying the rhythmic pulse and some melodic and inventive basslines.
There are some influences which are woven through the album; there’s more than a hint of sixties pop, and a hint of psychedelia channelled through the trip-hop filter of Portishead and Massive Attack or the shimmering nineties pop of Saint Etienne and Morcheeba. So the obvious opening song is one which sounds like early English folk, isn’t it?
“The Pool” proves that Elisa can do the quieter, more reflective songs as well as the belters, starting with a finger-picked acoustic guitar backing and multi-layered backing vocals, adding shards of percussion, synths and slide guitar before dropping back to the minimalist guitar backing. After the trippy feel of “Age of Contagion” and the monster guitar riff of “Veggie Tarantula” (the two singles so far), it’s a bit of a departure but it’s very effective.
The sixties influence is clearest in “Soul Mall”, the bass-led “Sherry” where Elisa delivers the verses in a cool, almost dismissive style, and “Mr Puppeteer” and “Hoochie Coochie Lover” where Ariel plays in a clipped, precise style that’s very Hank Marvin, or maybe it’s just like Eddie. Apart from the obvious “Lucifer, Lucifer, Lucifer”, there’s a darkness and obsession suffusing the album, and it surfaces in lines like ‘Wish I could skin you, look at what’s in you’ in “Hoochie Coochie Lover”; it’s challenging and not always comfortable but, if comfort’s what you want, you should be listening to Smooth Radio.
There are still a few more stylistic twists and turns to the album; “Tarjeteros” has an Ennio Morricone feel, “Bitter Beast” contrasts a verse with a hint of Bjork with a wall of sound chorus, while the album’s last song, “Solar Storm”, closes the circle with Elisa’s controlled vocal over a sparse arrangement that builds with keyboards and backwards effect before fading into the ether.
I don’t think I’ve heard a better album than “Until the Water Runs Clear” this year; Black Casino and the Ghost have created an album that’s full of hooks to grab your attention, but is full of dark and mystical undercurrents to keep you enthralled.
“Until the Water Runs Clear” is out now on Amazon and iTunes. Go on, treat yourself to an early Christmas present.
If you want to see Black Casino and the Ghost live (and you really should), they’re playing at The Finsbury on December 8th and it’s completely free.
Just un-bloody-believable! What an absolutely glorious racket Nova Twins make – thunderous basslines (a little nod to “Seven Nation Army” but with balls), raucous guitar and proper drums and a totally in-yer-face rap. Maybe the title, “Bassline Bitch” should be a bit of a giveaway, but this is a raw, visceral fusion of rap and rock; you can love it or hate it, but you won’t be able to ignore it, not even if you wear your health and safety approved ear plugs.
Nova Twins are Amy Love (vocals and guitar) and Georgia South (bass and backing vocals) and I can guarantee that once you see and hear them, you won’t be forgetting them any time soon. According to the press release, their genre‘s urban punk, but that’s not even getting close to describing this aural onslaught; it’s big and distorted and nasty, but there’s a naggingly catchy melody in there as well.
“Bassline Bitch” will be the first release from Rob Hallett’s new RoboMagic company, and Nova Twins will be playing some London dates to support the single over the next few weeks, including:
Friday August 21 The Finsbury
Friday August 28 Club NME, Koko, Camden
Tuesday September 01 The Old Blue Last, Shoreditch
And just to make your Friday, here’s the home-made video for the single:
The one thing you can definitely say about Black Casino and the Ghost is that whatever they do, it’s going to be interesting, and probably unlike anything else that you’re seeing or hearing. It’s two years since their last album “Some Dogs think their Name is No” was released and they’re back in the summer of 2015 with new material and live performances kicking off with the release of “Age of Contagion” on June 18, from the new album, “Until the Water Runs Clear” which is due to be released later in the year.
The song is dark, moody and bass-heavy, a bit like nineties Bristol trip-hop, which is the perfect backdrop for Elisa Zoot’s stunning vocal and explores the idea of transformation by ordeal and taking a step into the unknown. The accompanying video is pieced together from Peter Bogdanovich’s cult 1968 movie “Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women” and emphasises the sombre, slightly menacing mood of the song:
If you want to see Black Casino and the Ghost live, they’ll be headlining at The Finsbury in North London on Friday July 10.
I saw Bird to Beast live for the first time in November 2013 supporting Black Casino and the Ghost at The Finsbury in north London and they were excellent, performing stripped-back arrangements of their album material to an enthusiastic audience. The single “Elephant” is the second release from Bird to Beast’s debut album, following “To Lips from Lungs” in September 2013.
“Elephant” is a joyously over-the-top mixture of vocal stylings from the 50s and 60s (the intro could be the Andrews Sisters or an arrangement from “Glee”) and a production which Joe Meek would have been proud of. The first two verses feature Sam Hird’s high tenor vocals set against Hannah Hird’s beautiful harmony backing vocals before moving into a middle eight (ok, middle sixteen) built around 60s organ(Farfisa rather than Hammond) arpeggios. The outro is a series of choruses with a couple of upwards modulations building up to a proper ending (no fade-out copout here).
This single is melodic, nostalgic, packed with ideas and is just great fun. I can’t think of anything better to start the year with; you really should give it a listen.
Physical release January 13, 2014.
We promised to point you in the direction of some great music that we think will break through this year and I think it’s about time we started. A couple of these groups have been mentioned on MusicRiot in 2013, but we think they’re on the verge of national recognition this year, so I make no apologies for bringing them to your attention again.
Canterbury’s Coco and the Butterfields kept us entertained for a few nights last year in various venues across London and Brighton and were well worth seeing each time. The band came together on the busking scene in Canterbury and their live shows still have the feel of a very intimate interaction between audience and performers. The line-up is unusual (double bass, banjo, guitar, fiddle and human beatbox with two very strong lead vocals with occasional help from trombone and trumpet) and the band are tremendous in the live setting but they have a lot more going for them. They have some very innovative cover versions and some outstanding original material (the single “Warriors”, for example) and they win over audiences wherever they play.
Which brings me to my second tip: I saw Gentlemen of Few supporting Coco and the Butterfields upstairs at The Garage in Islington, and they were tremendous. They play country bluegrass, they’re young, they’re enthusiastic, they’re from south Kent and they’re a joy to see live. They play a wide variety of traditional instruments and they play them really well. The vocal harmonies are the icing on the cake; they have great voices and the four-part harmonies are superb. They might not break through this year, but it’s only a matter of time. Go out and see them in 2014 if you can.
Two of the Riot Squad have been following Black Casino and the Ghost very closely this year. I’ve reviewed a couple of singles (as well as their contribution to the “Radio (in my) Head” album) and Klare reviewed their debut album; we’re both very impressed. Fronted by the powerful and dynamic vocals of Elisa Zoot, BCATG are superb as a studio and live act with a bunch of powerful and original songs and varied live arrangements and visuals. They attracted some national attention towards the end of the 2013 in The Guardian and it’s only a matter of time before they break out from the London scene.
Another band I saw as a support in 2013 was Bird to Beast (supporting Black Casino and the Ghost at The Finsbury) in November. The core of the band is Sam and Hannah Hird from Colne in Lancashire and their own description of the band’s sound is psych-folk although there’s an awful lot more going on there. The songs are very good (certainly strong enough to stand up to a stripped-down live performance) and the vocal harmonies give them a huge lift. Their new single “Elephant” is released officially on Monday 13th January and has already had plays on 6 Music and Radio 2. I think we’re going to hear a lot more from Bird to Beast in 2014.
The final tip for 2014 is an artist that I listened to for the first time today and had to listen a few more times because he was so good. Noel Cowley is a London-born singer-songwriter with very pronounced Celtic influences and inspiration. His songs are introspective and sometimes nostalgic and he knows how to write a good melody and a very good chorus. His second EP, “Home is Everywhere” is released on Tuesday January 14th and the title track caught my attention immediately because the vocal had a very strong feel of one of my favourite singers, Iain Matthews and that has to be a good thing.
We’ll be publishing more detailed reviews of the Bird and the Beast single and the Noel Cowley EP in the next few days, so keep an eye out for those.
