Flying Saucer Attack - Instrumentals - Album Review

Throughout the nineties, David Pearce and his Flying Saucer Attack produced albums annually, showering sounds from the orbits of a shoegaze sun. At the turn of the millennium, Pearce seemingly hung up his FSA gown in support of a quieter lifestyle, with some brief excursions with other collaborators at the turn of the naughties. Now, after fifteen years away from public output, to a dedicated following’s delight, FSA are back with an album of fifteen brand new instrumentals.

Though arbitrarily numbered after their order on the record, each of these pieces is quite distinct, and at no point across the hour of music is there the sense that material is being duplicated or filled. All tracks are almost exclusively built with effects and amplification manipulating the sound and progressions of electric guitars. Each enjoys a bespoke colouration, for example, with Instrumental Three, the chords gently shimmer with delaying ripples, whilst Instrumental Four outlays drones and pad-like fuzz. The sixth instrumental dramatically interrupts the mood, breaking from tonality to explore the potential of crushing and wild white noise; from screaming pitches to factory raws.

Released ahead of the album, with an eery video montage of rural scenes, Instrumental Seven is worthy of distinction. Using guitar feedback alongside a second guitar moving around minor tensions, a rich, almost pipe-like sound is created. As well as this, the sound gates every so often. This fracturing of the recording creates a further unease, first established by its sorrowful melody. 

Instrumental Ten, once more introduces a new perspective, with an open-position string exploration supported with a gentle oscillating ticker in the background.

Often the tracks are faded out, sometimes swiftly, almost crudely, giving the impression that their conclusion is arbitrary: the context of an album limiting our access to their fuller existence. However, the album concludes on lengthier tracks. The penultimate piece uses harmonics of IV and V chords with reversing sound to create a wonderfully eternal and hypnotic effect, whilst the last stand revels in a regenerated Em chord with hammer-on flickers and fuzz.

This album of instrumentals is a wonderful celebration of the distorted electric guitar, with each track utilising it in a different, peculiar way - often isolated, the only instrument from silence. Here, the ear is given the chance to focus on all of its frequencies and qualities aside from other instrumentation. It is testament to a fine musician to take something as familiar as this instrument and with each track take a listener’s ear back to a more virginal sense of expectation for its sound, but as tracks unveil on this new FSA album, demonstrating a wealth of different techniques and colours, Pearce does this.  

After breaking from Domino Records in 1999, FSA now release Instrumentals with their support once more. It is a good to see Domino Records, ever popular through floor-filler acts like The Arctic Monkeys and Hot Chip, still keeping their umbrella wide and soul filled with important alternative artists speaking to audiences with more intimate desires. As well as bringing joy to loyal fans, may this new release on an ever prominent label introduce a new generation to FSA.

[2015.07.02] for NE:MM Online Magazine.

Rhian Thompson / Rhodri Davies & Mark Sanders / Shelly Knots / Callan - Live at The Old Police House, Gateshead

As people arrive for Hauskonzert #20, quietly growing his set out of his soundcheck, DJ Callan moulds tones quietly through the PA kneeling discretely at the side of the main living room space. Using LP’s with soft ambient tones, he delicately interacts with the dials of a little box in loop with the vinyl player, effecting and editing the sounds. This gradually evolving ambiance graciously soothes the ears.

Stepping up behind her laptop in a bright yellow Adidas jacket, Shelly Knotts then starts her set, teasing, what sounds like a hive of lizard tongues lashing, into life. These percussive acceleration and deceleration cycles then adopt a soggier character and we are transported from the desert to the monsoon. At a climatic point, a wonderful dominant seventh interval sustains in a synth sound as clashing thunder falls around it. SK shrugged as she finished her set, suggesting a concern about what she had produced. The audience’s applause however indicated that if she had doubts, they were her own.

Next up, on the first floor, a drum kit and harp sit, anticipating heartbeats. If you need a further reason to love Hebden Bridge, Rhodri Davies introduces his long-term musical collaborator, and duo partner for tonight’s performance, South London drummer Mark Sanders, with an anecdote explaining that he first met him whilst visiting West Yorkshire’s artist’s haven in 1994, and that discovery of Sanders’ musicianship was a primary influence for his own exploration into the greater world of improvised music. 

The improvisation between them that follows is sublime, with Davies and Sanders’ intuition of each others instincts palpable. The combination of Davies’ emerging muscular arpeggio patterns breaking free, and Sanders’ more fluid and joyful beats, blends into a complicated and fascinating animal. Sanders would swim in sections of his drum kit throughout - a hydra of cowbells, then a woodblock and tambourines for example - and draw focus to these timbres before moving on to another compliment with unstoppable enthusiasm.

If this jam put excitement and encouragement into the audience’s blood, Edinburgh’s Rhian Thompson concluded the bill, putting a chill back into it - with an eery piece, complete with indistinct voices (wound and rewound live on a handheld tape recorder,) klaxons, and doll rattles. With the daylight fading fast outside of the window, Thompson uses these sounds, supported by synthesised drones and pedal notes, in an interrupted and less repetitive way; not allowing any certainty to establish itself in the mind of the listener. She concludes this instrumental, reaching the maximum tension, by sustaining a loud high-pitch feedback, defeating some listeners into shielding their cocleas. It has been another delectable edition to the history of Davies’ Hauskonzerts for sure.

On a personal note, I think it is important to note that composer Mariam Razaei, with close friends such as Adam Denton, has, in a short period of time, turned this once Police Station, then Youth Centre, into a magical space for passionate musicians to create and perform without any distractions beyond the occasion itself - nought but music and participation. We are fortunate to have discerning curators like herself and Rhodri, supporting peculiar talent in this area, and connecting us with such from afar too. Involve yourselves in the events that take place in this little house on the Gateshead side of the river, and the rewards will be true.

[2015.06.18] for NARC Magazine.

Micachu & The Shapes - Good Sad Happy Bad - Album Review

Mica Levi and her Shapes follow up 2012’s Never with a record that finds subtle detail in mope and sadness. The mixing is deceptively simple, but one-off touches, and unusual dynamic placement of certain instrumentation gives these pop songs a cosy setting.

Like M&TS’ previous output, tracks are given distinction with bespoke sounds: Oh Baby’s stubborn misery is realised with minor riffs from a kettle drum and 2-bit timpani interjecting. Unity sports guttural screaming. LA Poison is a doped acoustic grunge skank whilst Sea Air’s disorientated melody evokes Robert Wyatt.

May the recognition for Levi’s soundtrack for Under The Skin bring more attention to her other work. Her invention is uncompromised by whichever pool she’s swimming in.

[2015.06.15] for NARC Magazine.

Teen Men - Teen Men - Album Review

In a new project, a breath away from The Spinto Band, Nick Krill and Joey Hobson join forces with visual artists to bring their new Teen Men self-titled debut album to life. Though the songs carve relief-deep definition for themselves, the mix of forms used in the various videos accompanying the tunes really help to convey the fuller sculptures. A mild melancholic vocal sometimes pulls the listener closer, but the songs are often delivered with a certain level of detachment, allowing their life to be observed, but from a window far away. This precise dreamy pop record has been perfectly realised and feels unworried by its unfaltering passivity. If you feel unworried by that too, there is a sweet record to be enjoyed here.

[2015.06.15] for NARC Magazine.

Beauty Pageant / Commiserations / Dead Friends / Kilo Grandma / Waskerley Way - Live at The Old Police Station, Gateshead

Whilst playing a game of chess a couple of weeks ago, a good friend delivered news of the best surprise: Beauty Pageant were back! and to be playing a gig at The Old Police Station in Gateshead at the end of May. After over a year away from performing live together, the imagination and graft of events organisers Even Clean Hands Cause Damage have brought them back to the area where they formed, to once again twist and punch ears. Further delights were to colour the evening too.

   

Opening the nights proceedings was Michael Bridgewater, performing as Waskerley Way. Taking off his jacket, and kissing his football shirt with a wink in his eye, he embarked upon three contrasting instrumentals built with sounds from his laptop and keyboard. The set evolved from slippery bass moans, through hip-hop influenced beats, to a final tune blossoming with a melodic prettiness.

Next we were treated to one face of Kilo Grandma; an improvisation group, this time utilising the talents of Beauty Pageant’s drummer, Dan Dixon, modular synth meddler John Bowers, clarinetist Rebecca Jennings and Charlie Bramley on pocket operator synths. Across two jams they filled the room with as much volume as it could handle, sourcing new musical patterns from one another, with phase progressing phase.

A man known as Dead Friends then brought an inspired bout of humour, playing prerecorded compositions from his tablet whilst casually drinking from a can and indicating choice moments in each track with a point of an index finger, or a raise of a brow. This setlist of short crude extracts and melted classics supported by deadpan expressions was a perfect aperitif.

Commiserations, a raucous trio from Leeds, realigned the airwaves with noisy short songs driven by loosely tuned guitar riffs and thrusting drums, whilst the two members with microphones vocalised their aggression. A goblin decided to play tricks from within one of the guitar amps halfway through, bringing the set to a holt. The band tried to correct the issue whilst the room of people watched with hopeful anticipation. Thankfully the amp returned to its full force and the riot could play out.

Crowning the evening, Beauty Pageant start with their Torso EP opener Superplasticizer and the mood is instantly theirs. After a few tracks uniting headbangers and the hypnotised alike, a humble thanking of all involved is given and met with audience agreement (displayed as silence.) Marie Thompson makes fun with this awkwardness before encouraging BP to quickly premiere a new song, returning to the comfort of playing their musical storms. When Helen Papaioannou’s opening saxophone riff for Cheerleaders starts up, final inhibitions are cut loose, and the room rides out unbridled excitement to the finish.

Though they have been away for a while, tonights display confirms their united character is still strong and loved. This performance has recharged our batteries until next time.

[2015.05.25] for NARC Magazine.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Christopher Sergel

Many will remember holding copies of To Kill A Mockingbird in class many moons ago. Outside the Theatre Royal this evening, a large crowd of teenagers were being assembled by teachers; a new generation exposed, getting ready to see what they have been reading in class reimagined in Christopher Sergel’s now-touring stage adaptation.
   
    As all are finding their seats, the stage is bare, except for a sturdy tree with a rubber-tire swing hanging from one of the branches, and some chairs and a bed tucked to the right hand side. The conversation is lively and loud on this well-attended opening night but a firm whistle from one of the actors raises the attention to the full cast now at the front of the stage, each holding a copy of Harper Lee’s novel, and the play begins.

    Each taking turns to read an opening passage of Scout’s account from the original text, the play outlays a device it will use throughout, helping to move each scene to flow into the next, and to narrate this tale of courage, prejudice and hope for justice with the eyes and innocence of a young girl’s perspective.

    This production benefits from being seen from a balcony, as the cast quickly build the town in a two-dimensional map on the floor in chalk and set the locations that various characters will visit throughout the story, including Mrs Dubose’s and Boo Radley’s homes, and the jail where Tom Robinson awaits his fate. The first half of the play runs quickly from scene-to-scene, introducing various tensions and relationships, each being presented like a miniature fable within this larger essay on humanity. Luke Potter adds a further depth to the spirits in this town with light accompanying music from a tenor ukulele or steel-string guitar, and singing too.

    In the second half, the story is played out in an extended courtroom scene where Atticus Finch (whose enduring strength throughout is portrayed excellently by Daniel Betts,) unravels the lies and prejudices of the prosecuting witnesses, including the drunk and abusive Bob Ewell, whose villainy is instantly palpable the minute Ryan Pope swaggers the character on stage. By the time the wrongly-accused Tom Robinson relays his perspective on the events, the whole theatre was hanging on to Zachary Momoh’s understated and powerful delivery.

    As the original story is given heart and strength from its strong youthful characters, the future of theatre is given light for the acting quality of its cast’s younger members. It’s hard to believe that this is Jemima Bennett’s debut role acting in professional theatre as she confidently moves within Scout’s skin, showing us all of the character’s cockiness and confusion. The chemistry between the actors playing the three childhood companions is wonderfully natural, with each also making individual moments memorable too; Harry Bennett as Jem tearing up the flowers, and Leo Heller as Dill telling his exaggerated stories.

    Though rich in moments and detail, the show flew by and as the lights faded on Atticus and Scout, the audience pounced into applause before the blackout. As the clapping went long and beyond any social formality, each member of the cast humbly raised their copy of the book to show their debt to this brilliant story. 

[2015.04.21] for NARC Magazine.

Martin Gore - MG - Album Review

MG is an assertive set of sixteen short instrumentals from Depeche Modes’ Martin Gore; a follow-up record to the techno-inspired album Ssss, which he made with fellow Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. Here, Gore takes full control and produces a setlist just short of an hour, portraying many unique spirits and painting lots of contrasting moods. You will be exhausted by the end, but in the best possible way; like when the house-lights come up after a wild, late-night thriller. 

This electronic odyssey pings into action with the plinky syncopated broken-chords of Pinking. Around the clockwork progression rough scrapes build and intensify. As quickly as this sense of urgency has blossomed, Swanning follows, like a darkness below the drains, a beast lurking in the sewer. Gore has created an album of moments, often just two-to-three minutes in length, with a rounded central character, each memorable and intense. I could elaborate on all of them, but that would take away the fun for the first-time listener.

A few distinguished mentions: The swaggering limbs of Stealth, with its EQ constantly stretching in the unrest, Europa Hymn, using pulled pitching to bend sorrowful melodies, and the confident Crowly, bold and shining with various colours as its croaking pulse ceases to relent. 

Though there is nothing in the labelling of the tracks or artwork to indicate a narrative or concept to the record, the mind cannot help but recall or invent images to marry with what the ears are hearing. It would be a mixed blessing to have to create a video with this music; a luxury because these sounds would amplify a scene, being so vivid and exciting, but also a curse, for it would be a huge responsibility to compliment these tracks with images that further expand their already multidimensional world.

By titling this record with his initials, this experienced musician outlays a considered confidence by presenting this new phase of musical direction, for all intents and purposes, in his name - as he did, compounding it with his collaborator’s for the previous outing - VGMG. This confidence is demonstrated in the material, which balances continual enthusiasm with tasteful clarity. The album cover image of a hand-drawn potentiometer gives a hugely understated hint of the apparatus that will be supplying the sounds manipulated within, however, it also fairly communicates the focus and love that Gore has for these electronic instruments.

What makes the tracks on MG so striking is the efficiency of their design; each is orchestrated with only the necessary timbres. Often snippets of melodies and motifs highlight negative space in the linear parts. This kind of melodic construction invites your mind to imagine motion beyond what is being told to your ear, in the same way an author might offer clues to a characters path, leaving you to imagine what might have happened. This unpatronising style of composition welcomes the listener inside, creating the opportunity for a much stronger emotional connection and investment. It is clear from this cornucopia that Gore’s goat’s horn is far from drought, and I, for one, would relish in a further instalment from this sonic-cinematic direction.

[2015.04.12] for NE:MM Magazine.