Midnight Doctors / Cath & Phil Tyler / Posset - Live at The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle

With the Midnight Doctors, Phil Begg pulls together some of the regions most interesting musicians and holds a truly unique orchestra in orbit. The first album collates an eclectic mix of instrumental grooves, atmospheres and samples; a seemingly arbitrary collage but each piece lights another up perfectly. 

With each member of the extensive MD family committed to other projects and schedules, the self-titled debut record (released through alt.vinyl,) has been the remaining evidence of their existence since the first launch. There have been no further concerts, but quietly, Begg, along with a slightly altered line-up of musicians, has written another collection, and to the joy of those who had enjoyed MD’s music on record, but had yet to enjoy it live (myself included) the news of their follow-up LP, Through A Screen and Into A Hole’s launch upstairs at The Cumberland Arms was a ticket to jump on.

Sitting behind small, round tables just in front of the raised stage, Joe Murray (Posset / also a contributor to MD’s debut LP) humbly welcomes everyone to the evening and opens with his support set, routed in manipulated tapes sounds. Using several player/recorder devices, Murray pulls squeals and partial sounds and sentences from a range of cassettes, keeping the texture eternal as he inspects new combinations. The room is transfixed on his playfulness and echo the taped applause finishing his set.

Cath & Phil Tyler follow with a typically gorgeous and melodic set of songs. A variant of Fair Mary Of Wallington, with Phil Tyler’s crisp finger-picking and Cath Tyler’s straight and unpretentious lyrical unveiling, cracked a few hearts in the room. To append their set, the duo stepped down in front of the stage to join members of their weekly Sacred Harp society. Cath Tyler suggested we consider the following tunebook songs less as a performance, and more as part of a gathering, of which we are included. The powerful dominant intervals in the harmonies held strongly whilst their choir engaged a range of different voices. This elevating surprise in the night took emotions to a place that could now only be set free by the crowning celebration. 

And so seven of the Midnight Doctors took the stage. Begg was strapped with an electric guitar, ready by his harmonium, which shone in the light. The set started with a new song, opening quietly with the pensive notes of John Pope’s bass. Throughout the set, Sean Cotterill and Niles Krieger voiced the violins stage right, whilst Christian Alderson sternly worked up strong punctuation from his drum kit at the back. Completing the line-up, Emily King and Faye MacCalman paired Alto and Tenor saxophones stage left. Though the sound of each piece was necessarily different from the recorded versions, the band remained dedicated to demonstrating a breadth of expression the self-titled LP has been celebrated for: from subtle melodies treading cautiously like toes in water, to explosive ricocheting blow-outs where all members vibrated as violently as their instruments. Mixing a set with pieces from their latest and original album (along with a few extras,) Midnight Doctors relished in the enjoyment of playing their music, sharing their music and the evening. Each member’s physicality and facial expressions were constantly reacting with the sounds. Big smiles donned their faces as they moved dramatically from the moments of light jazz skipping to the intense moments of chaos in new track Chump Change. In the restrained building of drones in Mount Analogue, these musicians harvested completely different moods and shared them with equal import. 

The End Of The World Carnival Waltz, full of its grand Eastern-European flavour, finished with a climatic energy which communicated the end of the night naturally without the need for explanation. Begg reached for the microphone to praise each band member, but it slipped on the stand in front of him and out of his attempted grasp. He gestured to each instrumentalist, and tried to offer thanks off-mic but his words were dissolved under an ecstatic, and seemingly endless, applause from the audience. This rapture signified how lucky everyone felt to be present and a part of an important moment of community. The music of the Midnight Doctors had brought everyone along together.

[2015.10.26] for NARC Magazine.

Mr Vast - Touch & Go - Album Review

“The garden’s not a prison when you admit that you’re absurd.” This lyric from the album perfectly reflects the nature of Mr Vast’s musical ambition: colourful, adventurous, and ridiculous. His relentless pastiche and parody incorporates transatlantic references, each track either making you smile or cringe depending on your mood.

Smudge Cabin, for example, is a ludicrous drive; giving a cubist portrait of the four-walled dwelling, whilst Testify opens with a monologue about the title’s amusing etymology, before entering a Country & Western swagger. 

By the time the closer Bottle Nose comes around, squeezing much amusement from the leftover sounds of a Sgt. Pepper Beatle, you are left wondering “what was that?” as Mr Vast is laughing merrily off into the distance.

[2015.10.20] for NARC Magazine.

Anna Von Hauswolff - The Miraculous - Album Review

Anna Von Hauswolff’s follow-up to 2013’s Ceremony opens with Discovery; an epic, reaching close to seven minutes across an instrumental landscape, before Von Hauswolff’s, at first elfin, voice captures the scene. The mood is set and the following eight tracks further paint a heavy and sore world, often using rich organ sounds as the spine of these stoic tracks. 

Touches of Sabbath metal can be heard emerging from time to time as in Come Wander With Me Deliverance. 

Subtlety is not order-of-the day on this record, with arrangements filled with weighty on-beat unison, and vocals divining archetypal eccentrics, but The Miraculous patiently draws a narrative of resilience and determination against oppressive weathers to great effect.

[2015.10.20] for NARC Magazine. 

Xiu Xiu Play The Music Of Twin Peaks - Live at The Sage, Gateshead

“Diane. It’s 7pm at The Sage. I’ve just arrived at their Double-R Diner, and there’s a man in blue denim and long grey hair eating cherry pie.”

The upstairs room between the two venues had been perfectly transformed into The Black Lodge too. Each guest, dressed-up as a favourite character, walked around The Red Room with childlike wonder on their faces.

With Angelo Badalamenti’s original soundtrack as fundamental to Lynch’s creation as the visual world, it takes bravery to recreate alternative versions of the music, not least because of the scrutiny they would receive from fanatical followers. Facing Hall 2, packed full of the North-East’s division of the church, Xiu Xiu came to share their adaptations.

As they started to play Laura’s Theme in front of a screen looping the sinister fan shot from the show, a young man beside me fainted. Audrey’s Theme was played with extra fuzz in the baselines, whilst Shayna Dunkelman’s xylophone brought out the famous riffs perfectly. Though used sparingly, Jamie Stewart’s voice will have divided opinion, but his passion for the material was doubtless. Their choice not to speak between the music allowed an eery atmosphere to be maintained across the set.  

The night concluded with dramatics as Dunkelman took up Laura Palmer’s diary, and read from it with a wild impression. Jamie Stewart then channelled Leland from behind the drum kit with Does Eat Oats. After the show, Some people returned to the Black Lodge, clinging on to a wonderful night.

[2015.10.05] for NARC Magazine.

The Tempest - Improbable Theatre Company / Northern Stage

Improbable set the tone for their adaptation of The Tempest perfectly with their opening scene. In front of a curtain of tied-together clothing, the main cast stood by a washing machine, to which some Arial powder (wink, wink) was added, and the machine ‘turned on.’ The curtain then lifted as if we were all being spun by the barrel, and the storm, onto the shore alongside the action.  

Dunes of shirts and trousers provided hillsides for characters to emerge from and escape around. Dressed in coherent apparel, the island residents blended in with the background as they made covert approaches, and eaves dropped on the washed-ashore. Throughout, the father-daughter chemistry between Tyrone Huggins as Prospero and Jade Ogugua was perfect and adoringly recognisable, whilst Eileen Walsh’s Ariel kept up a boundless energy as she tormented the selfish and vein lost souls. As Miranda and Ferdinand finally got Prospero’s blessing, the stage was filled wall-to-wall with colour. 

Providing delicate and mysterious music to the show was Brendan Murphy, who danced with wine-glass harmonics and glass tubular bells from his stage-right pit of tricks.

This adaptation took the brighter aspects of the text and ran with them. This packed main room at Northern Stage was left with an audience clapping heartily for another storm soon.

[2015.09.29] for NARC Magazine.

Richard Dawson / Asiq Nargile / Spires That In The Sunlight Rise - Live at St Gabriel's Church, Heaton, Newcastle

Entering St. Gabriel’s Church, we are treated to the memory of incense long soaked into the furnishings.

Sat humbly on chairs in front of the chancel and imposing golden imagery, the duo Spires That In The Sunlight Rise set the night alive, looping flute and saxophone passages amongst samples and synths. Kathleen Baird’s contralto burned lyrics into their aching sonic impressions.

A touring companion, fluent in English, introduced Asiq Nargile, explaining that she would be singing songs that made up portions of epics. Having the outlines of these stories prior to the performance may have helped the audience contextualise, however, standing stoic, using only her head, vocal cords and flying fingers (unfolding the encyclopaedia of her sas,) to demonstrate, Nargile captivated all with strength, beauty and precise articulation.

It is a testament to his expanding reputation that one member of this audience had travelled up from Malvern, Worcestershire exclusively to see Richard Dawson before returning the next day. Dawson ran long with his many facets: a greater range of music (including a Shirley Collins cover,) more jokes, more bananas. His conviction in the distinction for each of his songs shows his skills are as sharp as they have ever been.


[2015.09.17] for NARC Magazine.

LIDO - Sagan Megadrive - EP Review

Deep in the heart of the North-East last August, a new four-track EP was brought to life at the Ginger Music Company, out of the fevered mind of Chris Minnis, the sole console of Sagan Megadrive. Though live, you might see him working his nimble fingers around an acoustic guitar with a Casio keyboard in tow, on record he is fully fledged with special guests filling a spectrum of sound.

LIDO kicks off with The Quest For Coal. Minnis’ progressive tendencies are instantly laid bare with an 11/8 bluesy electric guitar riff. We are then swiftly taken to a complimentary section replete with bouncing brass. Theme and variations continue, until a spookiness is toyed with later in the track; synth wobbles over stabbing chords. Finally, a euphoric lydian lead line transports our journey back into the light and the main theme. It certainly feels like we have got closer to the coal by the end. This track also has a video full of eclectic and amusing imagery (including laughing masks and a dragon) all montaged and crudely edited together. Seek it out - It compliments the vision well.   

Next up, with an opening fanfare, is a musical response to a Doom Cheat “…to Dissemble and Smoke Berserk Pack Pts 1- 3.” This instrumental chops dramatically between feels and beats. If Queen influences were not suspected previously, halfway through this track we are treated to a harmonised distorted exposition in the identifiably May-school of guitar playing.  

Following on, bursting ahead of the music (with a glorious North-East accent,) is the lead vocal of the only sung song on the EP. Faces, in the Crowd jigs along with a glistening strummed acoustic guitar, supported by warm, and at times Gospel-style, backing vocals from Fiona Tobin. The dominant seventh chords rattle around until a swung bass groove takes the reigns, and steals the track away into strange synthesised sounds.
    

The EP concludes with the title track, and it is the most monstrous of the collection; with cacophonic instrumental harmonies and hyperactive drum patterns. It appears that Minnis’ outdoor swimming area is overpopulated with riotous attendees! As this EP concludes we are left with so much energy transferred to our ears from crashing white horses.

Each track sits between three and just-over five minutes in length (the EP itself just seventeen minutes) but with the flurry of ideas in each, each orchestrated part mixed crisply, you feel like you have ventured far, and heard many audio wonders.

Like visiting a theme park, LIDO will thrill you in the way it whisks you around, but will also draw a wry smile from your mouth as you catch a moment to observe some of its colourful aesthetic choices and references. It is bustling with fun, and Minnis does not ever let his perfectionism trick him into taking himself too seriously, and the compositions are freer for that. 

[2015.08.06] for NARC Magazine.