Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo at the Half Moon, Putney

Posted on March 29, 2012 by John S

On the Tuesday just gone, 27 March, I went along, with a couple of friends, to the Half Moon, Putney, just along from Putney Bridge, in South West London, to see Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo.  I was introduced to the band when I saw them play a set supporting Eliza Carthy at the Lexington on the Pentonville Road, North London. I’d not heard of them before that, but was really knocked out by the performance.  I blogged on it before – see my piece called “Two Gigs and Three Discoveries”.

I’d not been to the Half Moon for ages, but it is a great venue. An intimate space, now with red and black decor. It was certainly different when I last went there, but it’s back to the eighties, and the brain cells haven’t stored any memories.  I remember the band: Morrissey- Mullen, a jazz funk combo. Morrissey – or was it Mullen? – had been a guitarist in the Average White Band.  Good pub as well, with a decent range of beers.  Worth a visit.

The support was a singer/ guitarist called Jenny Lindfors. She’s Irish, based in London, and plays a jazzy, bluesy folk, with, I noticed, the capo quite a way down the fretboard, to give a sweeter sound. That’s about as technical as I get! I really liked her music and her sense of humour.  Most of the songs were from her “difficult second album”, not yet released.  Her first album is called “When The Night Time Comes” and is only £4.99 on iTunes.  I downloaded it after the gig, and would recommend it to anyone.

Emily and her band played a fantastic set.  I’d been familiarising myself with the songs after the Lexington gig, buying the latest album, “Almanac” and the previous one, “Despite The Snow”.  Both wonderful albums. Folk with soul, with a celtic flavour at times, sometimes a little bluesy. Beautiful music, basically.

Emily plays guitar.  The rest of her band are Anna Jenkins on violin, and, I heard on Tuesday, “foot banjo”; Jo Silverston on cello and banjo; and Gill Sandell on accordion, flute, percussion  and guitar. And all provide the harmonies that give the sound a lovely extra dimension.  I saw the band’s music described somewhere as “chamber folk”.  This is not a genre that I had previously been acquainted with.  I can see what it means, given the absence of drums and conventional bass (Jo and Anna pluck some rhythms on the cello and violin) but this is music that could reach out on any stage. It has a real resonance.

The photos here are a bit ropey, having been taken in a dark room with an iPhone with no flash and sometimes on zoom. Excuses aside, here are the members of the band.

Emily

Jo

Anna

Gill

The first song was one that I didn’t know, but was clearly called “This Is How It’s Meant To Be”.  A lovely country song with some great bursts of harmonica from Emily.  It’s a song from the first album, “Photos. Fires. Fables.”. It set the tone for the evening.  Beautiful, wistful, soulful music, subtle and elegant musical backing, wonderful harmonies.  Emily has a great voice, effortless but affecting.  Songs like “Reckless” and “Ropes” from “Almanac” stood out, as did the two that have found fame (of sorts) by becoming theme tunes for TV series. “Nostalgia” (the theme to “Wallander”) for me is one of those songs fits perfectly into my definition of celtic soul – yearning, sad, but uplifting through its beauty.

And then there was “Pause”. The theme to ‘The Shadow Line”. That’s great, but doesn’t mean much to me as I’ve never watched it. What “Pause” means to me is that it is one of the most beautiful songs that I have ever heard. Especially live.  It’s the one where Emily gently strums an electric guitar, but otherwise it’s just her singing, her lament about a lost love, and the harmonies from Anna, Jo and Gill. Very simple, slow, impressionistic. Delicate fragments of sound as much as a song.  I’m not surprised it found its way into a series based in Scandinavia, with, no doubt, big skies and lots of snow.  It grabbed me at the Lexington and transfixed me at the Half Moon. I just love it. My new favourite tune.

This is the band singing “Pause”.  Impossible to get all four in the shot from where I was standing, quite near the stage.

I’m sure that there are zillions of other bands out there, that if I heard, I would love.  That’s the joy of music.  Whom you discover, who really moves you, is really quite a random thing. Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo were second on the bill at one of the gigs that The Word magazine puts on at the Lexington. Pure chance that I got to hear them.  But I’m so glad I did.

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To Padstow, Cornwall, to cook some seafood!

Posted on March 26, 2012 by John S

Last Christmas I got a great birthday present from my wife, Kath – a day’s fish and seafood cooking course at the Padstow seafood school. Yes, birthday – I was born on Christmas day. 1 in 365 of us has to be. At the same time my friend Jon had been bought the same by his wife Maggie for his birthday just before Christmas.  So, this weekend, the four of us – children suitably supervised back in London – took the train to the South West for the big cook-out. The wives were planning a leisurely day while the men sweltered in the kitchen.

We went down on the Friday.  The weather was beautiful. On the way down there is some lovely scenery, especially just the other side of Exeter, when the railway runs right next to the sea, with a stunningly red sandstone cliff on the other side.  This bit of the coast was still very misty around one o’clock, as we passed through, so the view was rather obscured, but it had a certain spooky atmosphere.

Padstow isn’t connected by rail so we had to get off at Bodmin Parkway and get a taxi.  “Parkway” means out of town when it comes to the railway. Middle of nowhere in this case, but very pretty.  The forest and Bodmin Moor. With a steam railway running alongside. And a nice little cafe doing bacon baps.

The taxi dropped me and Jon off at Wadebridge, five miles from Padstow, so we could cycle part of the Camel valley trail to Padstow. The Camel river is tidal at Wadebridge and the tide was out as we cycled by.  Here are a few photos of the ride.

I like the way there’s a crack , a canyon in the sand, as the water deserts the the land.

We moved a little closer to Padstow before I took this shot and Jon snapped me.

This next one is the the little harbour in Padstow.

And the the ferry between Padstow and Rock on the other side of the estuary. Miss this and you have a a long journey up, over and down the estuary.

A view from the coastal path, which we walked along in the afternoon.

A few close ups as we wound through the woods .

And into the open, looking across to where the lifeboat is situated.  I think the grey slate houses are where the lifeboatmen and their families used to live.  Not sure whether they do now.  But you can see it is/was in splendid isolation.

Walking along the beach I took a few detailed shots.

My fellow travellers.

And then on to Day Two – The Course!

It was an early start: 8.45am arrival.  Jon and I ventured out from our cottage at 8.00 in the hope that we could find a cafe open and have a cup of tea and a bit of breakfast. We couldn’t find anything – Padstow’s cafes don’t seem to get going until 9.00 – and so we bought a loaf of bread and some butter at the Spar shop and went back to the cottage for some toast and tea.  Good job we didn’t have much of a breakfast because the day turned out to involve a lot of eating!

The seafood school is part of the Rick Stein empire. Rick, for any non-UK readers, is a chef who specialises in seafood and has made a great name for himself on TV.  He is from the Padstow area and now owns a number of restaurants in Padstow as well as a deli, a fish and chip shop, a gift shop, a bakery, a hotel and no doubt much more.  He has become synonymous with the town.

The school looks quite ordinary from the outside (see next photo), but inside it is a superb space.  It was a cooking paradise, such were the facilities, the ventilation (no sweltering), the utensils and the lovely view onto the estuary beach (OK, my shot through the window here isn’t the greatest, but you can imagine how nice it is to have a view like that).

Our master of ceremonies and master chef for the day was Keith, a Yorkshireman with the gift of the gab and an amazing talent for cooking.  He was incredibly knowledgeable about all aspects of the fish and shellfish we were preparing. The day was a real education.

After coffees the day started with a bang, with instructions on how to kill a crab. This was necessary for the preparation for one of the courses, a crab bisque.  To ensure that the crabs are fresh, they are bought live. They are killed with a couple of strategic thrusts with a skewer.  You wince a bit watching it, and then doing it.  But it’s the reality.  If you want to eat an animal, it has to be killed.

This is the said crab, post execution. The weapon is next to the board.

Over the day, we cooked four courses, having had a demonstration on each first. We worked in pairs, so naturally, Jon and I teamed up. At each stage we ate the fruits of our labour.  This is why we became glad we hadn’t found a cafe open at eight o’clock.  At about eleven we were eating the first we’d made: deep fried lemon sole with a spicy Malaysian coating, with a sambal side dish and a rocket salad. This was probably the most complex dish to make.  We learnt how to fillet and skin the sole. A very sharp and very bendy knife is essential.  But it worked. The sambal was a mixture of torpedo-shaped onions, long red chillies (with the seeds scooped out) and tomatoes grilled until they were black.  There was a black chilli pepper too, which had a kind of liquorice flavour. It was all chopped up, and then we added lime juice and Thai fish sauce.

It was amazing!

This is how it ended up looking on the plate, but I can tell you, those pieces of sole were so succulent, while the batter and the sambal had some seriously spicy oomph. Eleven o’clock, and we wanna rock!

Keith was funny about his rocket. It had to be turned the right side up. No grabbing a big lump and just shoving on the plate. Perfectionism!

The crab, once killed, was plunged in salty water and cooked for eight minutes. Meanwhile we got on with preparing the next dish, which was a delicious concoction of clams and lardons with a tomato and red wine sauce and parsley. It ended up like this.

So good!

We moved on to the crab bisque.  An amazing number of ingredients went into this. Carrots, celery, onions, garlic, parts of the crab, prawns, brandy, dry vermouth, tomato puree, fish stock. Boiled, simmered, liquidised, strained through a pointy colander and then finished off with butter, Cornish double cream and a bit of paprika. Yowsa!

The taste was exquisite.  It was so rich that you wouldn’t want a massive dishful, but as a starter it was unbeatable.  Jon and I congratulated ourselves for getting our soup’s texture exactly the same as Keith’s. It was the moment of the course – how can food taste this good?

So here is the concoction before it got mashed by the liquidiser.

And here is the final product, with a little bit of the crab meat preserved from the monster.  Jon and I misheard the instructions so ate most of ours while we were cooking.  Good ol’ Keith let us have a bit from the demonstration to garnish our perfect soup.

The last thing we cooked was Ling (a cross between a cod and a large  eel) with spring onions, gem lettuce hearts and peas.  All braised in butter and chicken stock and topped off with some crispy pancetta. Oh wow, I’m practically crying with delight as I describe it! It was so nice.  And so simple to make, once, Andy, another of the chefs, had done the hard work filleting the massive ling.

So here it is in the pot and then on the plate.

The braised lettuce was quite delicious. Beats the salad version any day!

And while we were making this meal (and beforehand), Keith and Andy were making the mother of all seafood paellas, with intimate details of the average squid’s sex life described en passant. Lobster, squid, monkfish, mussels, sea bream. Spanish rice, saffron, which cost a huge amount – if I’d sneezed while smelling the bowl of the stuff that was passed round, £130 would have been on the floor!

And, well, I doubt I have to tell you how good it tasted.

So, after each dish we ate our produce, and from the clams onwards we were were washing it down with some very nice white wines too. Nothing too excessive, but a lovely complement. By the time the course ended – about 4.30 – we were most definitely, replete.

So what can I say? If you fancy doing something a bit different, or giving a close friend, or your partner, something interesting for a present, then a trip to the Padstow Seafood School, comes highly recommended.  Costs £195, but dare I say… it is worth every penny!

We still had the Saturday evening before us, of course, after this culinary adventure and five course feast. After meeting up with Kath and Maggie in a cafe, Jon and I retired to a pub to watch Stoke vs Man City play out a grim 1-1 draw, leavened only by a quite magnificent volleyed goal by Peter Crouch. And then, after a brief rest at the cottage,  the four of us went to one of Rick Stein’s restaurants, the St Petroc. Being all fished out, I had a steak, with scallops to start (on the basis that we hadn’t cooked any of those on the course). More wonderful food – not exactly necessary, but it had to be done.

And all the while, the weather was beautiful.  The perfect weekend.

There’s a larger set of photos on Flickr – see the link under the Blogroll on the right of this piece.

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Have You Heard? – (12) “Wrecking Ball” by Bruce Springsteen

Posted on March 21, 2012 by John S

The release of a new Bruce Springsteen album is always important to me, ever since that moment, back in 1978, when I was lying in bed, in the darkness, listening to a review of new albums on the radio, and on came “Racing In The Streets” off “Darkness On The Edge Of Town”.  And then “Candy’s Room’, or maybe it was “Badlands” – my memory of that is a little hazy. I was hooked. Bruce quickly became the most important artist in my musical world, and he’s stayed that way ever since.  There’s usually something I’m listening to more, and not every album he’s released has been top notch, but when it comes to the crunch, it is Bruce’s music that has meant more to me than anything else ever since that chance encounter in ’78.

And so to “Wrecking Ball”. The album was preceded by some good reviews.  People were saying it was a real return to form (after “Working on A Dream” which I have to say, was probably Bruce’s weakest ever. With that first song, “Outlaw Pete”, the first ever song that I genuinely just didn’t like). There was lots of excitement – especially in the US – about how angry the album was, how it was a return to Bruce as the spokesman for the ordinary man, buffeted by the economic crisis, forgotten while the Government worked out how to save the banks. It sounded like it was going to be good.

So how is it, does it live up to those expectations?  I’ve been listening to it a lot, to decide what I really think.  To get past that first reaction that it’s Bruce so it will be good. Or that slight disappointment which comes next when it sounds largely like the last twenty years’ worth of albums overall, with just a few nuggets emerging in time. Trying to get to the essence, giving it a bit more time than I’ve given most of the albums in recent times. I didn’t have a blog then!

So, so… straight up, I’m saying it’s an 8/10. That’s very good.  Definitely the best since “The Rising” and maybe as good as anything since…. I don’t know, “Born In The USA”? That was 1984.  “Tunnel Of Love”, 1987? I really think it is up there with those albums (a notch below the famous first six*).

The first thing to say is it is one of those albums which works as a whole. A coherent body of work, where the emotions ebb and flow, where there is light and shade, celebration and darkness.  With all those classic Springsteen themes about the downtrodden man, the forlorn lover, the defiance, the passion, the redemption in ordinary things. It’s an album that continues Bruce’s journey into America’s musical roots, especially the folk music, which itself is a descendant of the folk music of Ireland, amongst others.  When I listen to “American Land”, which is a bonus track on the iTunes version of the album, or “Death To My Hometown”, I can imagine Shane MacGowan of The Pogues singing the song, as the violins and tin whistles kick in.  They are great, rousing tunes that resonate with my celtic soul. And “Death To My Hometown” sure is angry about those invisible forces that brought so many working people to their knees.

Anger, some times smouldering, sometimes in your face, sometimes despairing, sometimes defiant, runs like bubbling, spitting lava through “Wrecking Ball”.

The album starts with a bang.  “We Take Care Of Our Own” enters with a thunderous drum beat, roaring guitar and a classic Springsteen R&B piano that harks back to the days of “Jungleland” and “Badlands” and “Factory”. As well as a diatribe against against the uncaring society, I think it’s a celebration of the sound that made Bruce’s music so distinctive, with the late, great, Clarence Clemons at its heart.

The next two tracks, “Easy Money” and “Shackled and Drawn” delve into those American roots. “Shackled and Drawn” especially, is ready for the hoe-down. Bruce has only ever made one record that works in the discos – “Dancing In The Dark” – but on the country dance floor he has a whole repertoire, and “Shackled” is impossible not to tap a foot to, especially when that accordion buts in with its refrain.  A joyous sound, juxtaposed against words of defeat, loss of hope and energy. That contrast creates a real tension through much of this album.

Two tracks form the centrepiece of the album, for me.  The first is “Jack Of All Trades”. Set against one of those simple, rolling, soul ballad piano backgrounds (there is probably a technical term for it, but I don’t know about that stuff), Bruce sings tenderly about a simple man doing his best for his woman in hard times. Holding on to the everyday. There’s a breakout of that suppressed anger too – If I had me a gun, I’d find those bastards and I’d shoot them on sight – but mostly it’s about the personal defiance that is at the heart of so many of Springsteen’s greatest songs. So simple, so moving.

And the second is “Wrecking Ball”.  I didn’t get this one at first. There was a lot going on and I wasn’t sure if it hung together.  And then suddenly the wrecking ball refrain became the one in my head as I was in the Tube on the way to work. Sometimes a song takes a little while to reveal itself, for all the layers to peel away. For the structure to emerge. “Wrecking Ball” is like that, but now it feels like a Springsteen epic. It builds and builds and erupts in a chorus of brass at the end, matching the come-and-get-me thrust of the lyrics. It sounds like a song made for the end of a live set – for the exit in triumph.

“My Depression” and “You’ve Got It” are the deeply personal songs, the love songs, with a twist.  The ills of the world are background, but the focus is one-to-one. “My Depression” is a plea for love and support in hard times which grows on me each time I listen to it. “You’ve Got It” is a simple piece of rock’n’roll, a bit of light relief in a densely orchestrated album.

I don’t know what to make of “Rocky Ground” really. It’s got a nice melody. But it feels like a song that has been designed for the Superbowl Final, with a bit of rapping from Michelle Moore, and the inevitable gospel choir.  Dare I say, the sort of thing American TV seems to lap up.  All the key US musical cultures coming together.  We are the world. Just a little bit grating to these British ears. “Land Of Hope And Dreams”, a song that has been around for a while, is in a similiar, but more meandering vein. The gospel sound – not my favourite Springsteen style. I’d rather leave that to Aretha Franklin. But there is a searing sax solo from the Big Man, Clarence C, which reminds you what we’ll be missing from now on.

And then the album ends with “We Are Alive”. A certain irony as the lyrics sing of the souls of the dead and of abandonment; but against a rolling country beat, Bruce intones a simple message which sums up the album, and pretty much his musical history: the sound of defiance and hope emerging from loss and despair…

We are alive – And though our bodies lie down here in the dark – Our souls will carry the fire and light the spark – To fight shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart…

So, yeah, buy this album. Give it a bit of time.  There’s a great fire burning at the core of this album. It’s Bruce Springsteen at his heartfelt and rootsy best.

* The asterisk! The first six Springsteen albums are on a different level as far as I am concerned. I’ve grown to love the seventh – “Born In The USA” – over time, though I rather dismissed it as the yuppies-discover-Bruce when it came out, in 1984..

In case you don’t know them, here they are, the first six, the best music ever!

“Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” (1973); “The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle” (1973); “Born To Run” (1975); “Darkness on the Edge of Town” (1978); “The River”(1980); “Nebraska”(1982). Every one essential, in different ways. I will come back to them in time.

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Sportsthoughts (17) – Reflections on the Six Nations Rugby

Posted on March 18, 2012 by John S

So the Six Nations tournament is over and Wales are worthy winners,  Grand Slam winners.

Let’s look at the outcome compared with my forecasts.  I can take it…

1st Wales.  My forecast 4th.

OK, my excuse is that I thought they had a load of injuries. And I wasn’t 100% convinced that they were that good yet.  I was wrong. They played brilliantly in all areas. And although they only just shaded it vs Ireland and England, that itself shows a team that can hold on to a narrow margin.  Against England they managed the 10 minutes with one man down brilliantly -England hardly saw the ball. It’s a strong team, a big team, even the wingers, North and Cuthbert, are monsters.  The back row of of Lydiate, Warburton and Faletau is awesome, with Ryan Jones and Justin Tipuric stepping in when necessary.    A good team which deserved its triumph.

2nd England. My forecast 3rd. I was excited by new coach Stuart Lancaster’s pick of young stars and players who hadn’t quite made it but deserved the chance.  Including our Quins captain, Chris Robshaw, appointed to England duty. But I had to ask myself, are we being too optimistic, just because of all the changes? Turned out not to be the case.  In the first game, against Scotland, they hung on with a brilliant defence, made at Saracens.   In freezing Italy, it was more of the same, another victory. Against Wales at Twickenham, the team opened up and were unlucky not to win.  A draw was on the cards when Strettle’s try went to the video ref in the last minute. Against France, the team played brilliantly, but could still have lost at the last if Trinh-Duc hadn’t fluffed the drop goal. And then, after an even first half against Ireland, the England scrum turned on the power, the Irish buckled, and it turned out to be a rout. Better each time – a very satisfactory tournament. Will Lancaster get the job full time?  Hope so. 

3rd Ireland. My forecast 1st.

Massive underachievement.  These guys, in their provinces, are completely bossing the Heineken Cup. They come together and just don’t do it.  A couple of games have been close – the margins between success and failure are so fine – but really, I don’t know why Ireland didn’t finish off Wales and France. They had the capability, the power.  But not the belief. Losing Brian O’Driscoll won’t have helped.  And then Paul O’Connell.  But these guys are getting on. They need some new leaders.

4th France. My forecast 2nd.

Usual French unpredictability. People thought new coach Saint Andre would sort them out.  Instead he seemed to be turning them into a crabbed, cautious team, reliant on forward power and kicking. Clearly it didn’t work. Will anyone come in and release the French spirit? They are the best – if they ever want to be.

5th Italy. My forecast 6th. Well, credit to the Italians.  They beat Scotland and frightened the other teams, especially England in frozen Rome. They still lack that pool of players, which especially affects their backs.  But it is getting better.

6th Scotland. My forecast 5th. I didn’t exactly predict triumph for Scotland. They battle well, but can’t finish things off.  I don’t know why, and you know, I just don’t care!

My favourite England moments – being English:

  • Tom Croft rollicking through the French defence, at the pace you only expect from wingers,  to score the try that said, “This is the new England!”. And he nearly did it again against Ireland, dropping the the slippery ball as he thought about offloading to David Strettle. Maybe he should just have piled through himself again.
 
 
  • The way the English forwards crushed the Irish forwards yesterday. Never seen anything like it in the Six Nations. The front row is where it was happening.  I have no understanding of the dark arts that go on in there. But it was a real sign that Stuart Lancaster didn’t take any of the front three – Corbisiero – Hartley – Cole – off until right at the end.  That is unusual these days, but they were so dominant, that it was just not worth changing the dynamic.
  • Seeing Chris Robshaw, captain, always in the thick of the action. Just as he is at Quins. Leading from the front.  You don’t hear his name on the commentary all that much because he doesn’t get the ball that much. But look at who is always at the bottom of the crucial ruck, who is putting in that vital tackle. Robbo, more often than not.
 
 
  • Owen Farrell and that rather frightening wild eyed stare as he takes aim for the penalties and conversions. It has become as reassuring as Jonny Wilkinson’s clasped hands, because you know, more often than not, those kicks are going to go over.
 
 
  • And Ben Youngs, back from the doldrums, darting through for a try.
 

So credit to Wales, a good team.  And come on England, it’s looking good again!

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Scritti Politti and Portico Quartet in concert

Posted on March 15, 2012 by John S

Another Word In Your Ear concert at the Lexington on the Pentonville Road, North London. About ten minutes walk from Kings Cross station.  You work your way through the crowds, commuters, Northerners and Scots looking to escape the Smoke, or arriving wide-eyed at the big lights, the drunks shouting at no-one in particular, the Islington trendies, the slightly threatening geezers and no doubt the prostitutes and pimps, though there is nothing obvious. I decide that this is not the place to put in the iPod earphone (just one, I can only hear in one ear).  Need to be fully alert, streetwise, London-style. It’s not a war zone, but you can never be complacent on the streets round major stations, anywhere in the world.

Paranoia over, I stride uphill. Pentonville Road – familiar to all of you who have played Monopoly –  is actually on quite a steep incline as you walk up to The Angel, Islington.  The Lexington is about two-thirds of the way up the hill. It’s a good pub, with a decent range of beers and lagers – and, in keeping with its American emphasis, Bourbons.  Not tried any myself yet, but they look very tempting.

The concerts are in a room upstairs. Must hold, at most, a couple of hundred people. Which is great, because wherever you stand in the room, you are close up and real. And the music can boom and infiltrate.

First band on was the Portico Quartet.  We missed a bit of their set, drinking beers downstairs, waiting for one of our number and then just chatting. But as soon as we got upstairs, I was just blown away. Four young guys extracting amazing sounds from a mini-sax, drums, double bass with occasional violin bow, synth and a set of sort-of steel drums. It was at the same time prog rock, jazz, world.  It was haunting, it grooved and the bass lines shook the floor.  You could feel the vibrations rise up your legs. It was like a sound system at Notting Hill. A thought occurred that this was the kind of sound that Radiohead are increasingly heading towards.  I imagined what it might be like with Thom Yorke singing over it (with no disrespect to the drummer who did a bit of singing).  Awesome.

I know nothing else about Portico Quartet, but I will definitely be investigating.

And then Scritti Politti.  A blast from the eighties past.  Part of that shiny pop/dance amalgam. When the white boys were really getting into dance music. The main man was Green Gartside. The key song, that I remember, was “Wood Beez”. The twelve inch single had crystalline dance rhythms, Green’s boy/girl voice and a memorable lyric:

Each time I go to bed, I pray like Aretha Franklin… 

I didn’t really know what to expect at the concert.  I could hardly remember any other songs than “Wood Beez”. But it all came flooding back as Green and his band churned out the hits and some other really good songs.  Throughout, the playing was clear and brilliant. A couple of the songs had serious reggae beats, including “The Sweetest Girl”.  The bass lines again reverberated, shaking the room. Loved it. Green played his first ever tune, a post-punk thing which sounded like PiL meets Gang of Four.  It was great and a nice contrast to the mostly shiny pop/dance. Green himself looked great, was in good humour and had a very engaging style, which mixed self deprecation with some quite philosophical musings.

It was just a very impressive show, and ended with “Wood Beez” and “Absolute”, which I immediately remembered was as good as “Wood Beez”.  And on the night was maybe even better.

Just for a bit of a laugh, here’s Scritti Politti doing “Wood Beez” on Top of the Pops in 1984. Green is a little different these days: denim jacket, short dark hair and a beard. But, you know, the eighties were the eighties…

Big up to The Word magazine for organising these occasional gigs at the Lexington. Having been to three now, I would recommend them to anyone. The music is great and the intimacy of the small room, the way the bass and other sounds can really take hold, the relaxed vibe, is all really enjoyable.

This is how we should experience live music whenever we can.

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Sportsthoughts (16) – A Rugby Day

Posted on March 11, 2012 by John S

Today was France vs England. Often Le Crunch, though not quite this year, as Wales are out ahead.  My friend Jon suggested I came down with him to Weybridge in Surrey, to watch his son play in an under 13 game and then watch the international in the clubhouse.  Sounded a good idea: rugby and then more rugby, a couple of beers and hopefully an England win.


The club was situated in a gated village called Whiteleys.  Like the cinema complex. I don’t know whether there is any connection. But it looked pretty exclusive.  Deepest Surrey – no place for the riff raff. Guardian readers immediately reported to the police for subversion.


The weather was beautiful. It must have reached 20 degrees C by midday.  Perfect for running rugby. Not so good for young lads playing on full sized pitches.


Jon’s son Louis’ team seemed to be half the size of the opposition.  So not surprisingly the main tactic of that team was to give the ball to the big lads and try to run straight through them. It worked at the beginning, but Louis’ team rallied, and while they conceded six tries, they gave a good account of themselves and got a try at the end. What I was struck by was how, even at this level, some of the tackles were pretty crunching, and if they happened near to you, you winced at the intensity. On an adjacent pitch there was a game going on between 15-16 year olds. Blimey, that was frightening!  Even the chanting in the huddles before the game started was intimidating.  One boy got injured in the second half, flying up in the air after a tackle on the wing, and landing awkwardly. The game stopped for ten minutes as he was treated for whatever injury he had. There were medics on hand and he didn’t have to be taken away in the ambulance, so hopefully it wasn’t too serious.


But I have to say, the intensity of that 16 year old game looked far greater than what I remember from school.  Maybe when you are playing it doesn’t seem as shuddering when a tackle is put in as when you are just watching. But I don’t think we did as many head-on tackles back in the seventies.  And we probably didn’t have the muscles either. No-one lifted weights that I remember. Now it seems de rigeur amongst sporty teenagers.


My son fractured his arm (not badly) playing school rugby in his second year at senior school and lost interest after that.  Watching today, part of me felt relieved; but another part felt he’d missed out on something.  And that is the camaraderie of rugby.  The team ethos.  The respect for the opposition. I loved it at the end when the boys did their hoorays for their opponents, all shook hands in a line.  Just doesn’t happen like that in football. Rugby is a hard sport, but one with real values, intact values.


And so to the big game.  In the end we drove back to Ealing to watch the game at Jon’s house. And what a great match.  The young England team, managed by the caretaker manager, Stuart Lancaster, gets better with every game. A 24-22 victory in Paris was a real triumph. As with the previous Six Nations games, England defended brilliantly, but what they also did this time was take their chances clinically.  Three tries to France’s one, despite France having two thirds of the possession in the second half. Twice the number of tackles put in than France. The intensity of that is pretty hard to imagine. You compare it to those boys in the early afternoon, when even what they were doing made you wince. And then imagine what it was like out there in the Stade Francais.  And then you see Ben Foden being interviewed at the end of the game, having put in any number of heroic tackles and runs, looking pretty cool, unflustered, not even sweating that much, and you think, amazing. The combination of skill, bravery, athleticism. Has to be admired.


So England move on to their last game, home to Ireland.  Another really tough prospect, but the way they are playing now, a win has to be a real possibility.


My forecasts are all over the place – as expected. England and Wales better (so far), Ireland and France not so good.  Right about Italy and Scotland battling it out at the bottom, but that is the established order nowadays. There’s always a new dawn promised in Scotland, but it never quite takes shape. Italy are getting better all the time, but still don’t have the pool of players necessary in that football-mad country.


A noble game, rugby.  And the word that jumps out at me, which made today so enjoyable, and always does when I watch rugby, was one I used earlier.


Camaraderie.

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Have you Heard? – (11) “Psychocandy” by The Jesus and Mary Chain

Posted on March 9, 2012 by John S

I’m writing about eighties indie for my book at the moment, and last night it was the turn of The Jesus and Mary Chain.

It reminded me about the incendiary impact that their classic album, “Psychocandy”,  had when it came out in 1985.  My favourite music paper, the NME, got very excited about it.  It was the Beach Boys meets the Velvet Underground, but with a whole load of guitar feedback screeching over half the tracks.  I’d certainly never heard anything like it before.  I wasn’t even sure I really liked it at first. The feedback thing almost made the tracks unlistenable – at least in 1985, when pop was at its height. It was like an artist painting a picture and then wiping a squeegie across it…. unthinkable. Er, that’s exactly what Gerhard Richter did at one point. (See my blog on GR!).  This was music as abstract art. Or just anti-music. The band were associated with violent gigs, “art-terrorism”, and the usual drink and drugs stuff. It wasn’t easy listening.

The band’s had a huge impact in indie world, but their moment didn’t last that long.  They didn’t stick with the radical approach, and became instead a pretty good rock’n’roll band in the style of the Velvets, The Stooges and all the usual suspects. You could probably throw in the Sex Pistols and Joy Division too. Good, but not great.

But that one album, “Psychocandy” is iconic. And hugely influential.  I doubt we would have had My Bloody Valentine without it.  And a band like the Horrors now must surely have been influenced by it.

The drummer on some of the “Psychocandy”sessions was Billy Gillespie. The front man for Primal Scream. And look what happened to them!

My favourite slurred surf vs feedback track is “Never Understand”. Here’s a video of it. With 80’s haircuts in full evidence!

Over time though, the song that has emerged as the band’s best is “Just Like Honey”.  And  I have to admit that a big part of that is down to the song featuring at the end of one of my very favourite films, “Lost In Translation”. Set in Tokyo, the story of the jaded actor played by Bill Murray and the student, deserted by her photographer husband, played by Scarlett Johansson. It’s a wonderful film where nothing much really happens, but the imagery is entrancing. The relationship between the two develops slowly, but never gets to where you want it to get. Oh, it’s so poignant, frustrating, beautiful, funny, sad. And “Just Like Honey”, right at the end, is perfect for the mood. Here’s a clip. The first 1.50 is the film’s denouemont (which is tremendously moving if you’ve loved the rest of the film) then the song finishes it all off beautifully.

If if you haven’t heard “Psychocandy”, it’s worth giving it a try.  You might hate it. Or you might just fall in love with it.

Jimi Hendrix proclaimed, in one of his greatest tunes, “Third Stone From The Sun”, You’ll never hear surf music again…

Once you’ve heard The Jesus and Mary Chain, surf music will never sound the same again.

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Boy on a Rocking Horse, Trafalgar Square

Posted on March 4, 2012 by John S

I was walking back to the office on Friday lunch time and passed through Trafalgar Square. Wandered past the new sculpture on the “Fourth Plinth”. It’s a thing called “Powerless Structures, Fig 101”.  Well, of course it is.

The sculpture was unveiled on 23 February this year.  It’s cast in bronze and is the work of Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset. The chair of the commissioning committee, Ekow Ershun  – who is a writer I really respect – described it as questioning and challenging the tradition of equestrian sculpture in Trafalgar Square. Well, it’s certainly the first time they’ve had a boy on a rocking horse as far as I know.

Anyway, as I walked past, there was a seagull perched on the top of the boy’s head. That amused me for some reason.  Maybe it punctured some of the hype that can surround these things. Doesn’t matter how much that statue challenges the history of equestrian sculpture, you can’t stop a seagull crapping on its head!

So out with the iPhone.  It was a grey, almost misty day. The boy and his horse – and the bird – stood out against the pewter sky…

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Sportsthoughts (15) – So farewell AVB…

Posted on March 4, 2012 by John S

It’s been coming for some time, as Chelsea stumble around, dropping points against teams they usually dismiss with ease, threatening to fall out of the Champions League in the last 16 (Napoli – good but not great),  not even able to beat Birmingham at home in the FA Cup. When would Roman Abramovich apply the metaphorical guillotine to Andre Villas Boas’s neck? Today it came, after Chelsea lost 1-0 to West Brom yesterday. West Brom! Marooned in fifth place, three points behind a resurgent Arsenal. No Champions League next year? Unthinkable for Abramovich – and the Chelsea fans, who’ve grown used to bossing it with the Russian’s millions.

Off with the manager’s head! Who’s next? Well, for the interim, Roberto di Matteo. AVB’s deputy, so associated with the current failure. But a man with a Chelsea past.  Strange one nonetheless, but presumably approved by Terry and Lampard, Drogba and Cech. The powers that be.

That was AVB’s problem. Chelsea weren’t ready for radical change but that was his mission. He was brought in after great success at Porto, essentially to get Chelsea playing like Barcelona. Ever since the successful Mourinho team was dubbed boring because it knew  how to close down a game at 1-0, Abramovich has seemed to crave attractive, attacking football, as well as Champions League success.  Carlo Ancelotti was getting there, but was sacked in his second season, for faltering a little after winning the Double in his first. Faltering after Abramovich sacked his assistant, Ray Wilkins, in mid-season. Good ol’ Ray clearly played a more important role than people realised. The politics of Chelsea are positively Byzantine.

I like AVB. He is clearly committed to playing good football, and gives good interviews. In fact you can’t stop him talking! But maybe he just wasn’t experienced enough to take on the Chelsea “dressing room”. He wanted to play a fast pressing 4-3-3, which the stalwarts just weren’t capable of adapting to in their twilight years. Early on the gaps between defence and midfield,  or behind the centre backs, were embarrassing as the team struggled to carry out the new instructions. Eventually some of the old structure was restored, but all the messages coming out of the club were that the established players were still unhappy. And no-one briefs the press like the Chelsea boys.

AVB was caught between two stools. He had to change things, but wasn’t able to do it quickly. When he started dropping Lampard to get more mobility in midfield it became the story. The battle for supremacy had begun. AVB was never going to win without full and clear backing from Abramovich. He never got that.

Other things didn’t help: Torres’ inability to score, Terry’s racism court case, David Luiz’s crazy moments in defence. But the  heart of the problem was that the established pros at Chelsea didn’t buy into AVB’s way of playing, but he couldn’t get rid of them. Maybe he just isn’t a good man-manager. Did he try to understand those top players, get them onside, buying into the mission? The way Mourinho clearly does, everywhere he goes?

Time and again when you read about successful managers you hear comments from the players about how the managers interacts with them, positive comments. Insight, concern, support. Basic human qualities, basic leadership. It must be incredibly difficult to establish your authority at a top club these day, with all those multi-millionaire egos. Difficult to get them to share your vision, your strategy, your tactics. I’m sure you’ve got to work with the grain, show respect for the established culture, the leaders in the dressing room. Introduce change gradually, imperceptibly. Get the players to own the changes. We did it ourselves…

Of course, a couple of good wins, especially if they get past Napoli, and all will be well. At least for a while. Football is so fickle. Look at Arsene Wenger. Increasing numbers of Arsenal fans were calling for his head. Then they beat Spurs 5-2 and Liverpool 2-1. Arsene is manager of the month for February. The  talk is of catching Spurs in third. And even overturning that 4-0 deficit against Milan. Very unlikely! But some are imagining the outcome. Optimism is back.

I think the problems go deep at Chelsea though. There is a real malaise. Too many factions, too many unseen influences. Declining players with too much power. A remote and unpredictable owner. Problems looming when the financial far play rules come in. Not enough of that most precious commodity – leadership.

So is the scene set for the return of Jose? Maybe, but I think it would be a mistake for him. Too many malign influences, some probably still there from his first stint. Better to wait for one of the big prizes – one of the Manchesters. Maybe warm up with Spurs, if Harry takes on England. Or stay at Real Madrid.  They’re not bad.

Leave Chelsea to their own devices.

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Two gigs and three discoveries

Posted on March 3, 2012 by John S

This week I’ve been to two gigs and enjoyed some fantastic music. Also, through a retweet on Twitter, I’ve discovered a band whose music I really like. This is the great thing about music generally, but also about going to concerts. You discover new things all the time. New music which you love.  It’s so inspiring.

I’ll start with the Twitter discovery.  Courtesy of Bob Harris, Radio 2 DJ and the man who used to front up “The Old Grey Whistle Test”.  There was a time when he was reviled – by the punks and others – but he stuck with the music he loved, and now he is back with an influential show.  And he tweets with such positivity. That’s how I made my discovery.

Which was The Staves – “Mexico”.

I really like the simple plucked guitar rhythm and those beautiful harmonies.  The band haven’t  released an album yet, but they have a few songs on iTunes . The one I like the most is “Silver Dagger”. It’s an old folk song – I remember Bob Dylan and Joan Baez singing it – but the harmonies sung by the Staves are just so beautiful, in fact as beautiful as a song can get, I’d say. I just love this song.

On the Monday just gone, I went with a few friends to a gig at the Lexington pub on Pentonville Road, Islington. Organised by the Word magazine.  The headline act was Eliza Carthy.  First on the bill was a band called Left With Pictures. They played some lively folk music and  I thought I’d like to see them again. Then we had Emily Barker and the Red Clay Halo. They were wonderful. Four women, playing violin, cello, guitar and flute and other sounds.  You’d call it folk, but there was an atmosphere, a lovely sound that really stirred the emotions. I don’t watch a lot of TV apart from news and sport, but it turned out that Emily’s tunes had been used for a couple of crime series, “Wallander” and “Shadow Line”. For the latter the song was “Pause”, off the album “Almanac”.  It’s one of those songs which is so simple, but so atmospheric.  Live, it was just Emily strumming an electric guitar and singing, with the three other band members singing harmonies. At the Lexington, it was truly captivating. I could feel the tears in my eyes. Really, really, lovely.

This video sort of captures it, but nothing compares with just being there.

Beautiful, simple music.  For me that is always the best.

So, I’d already discovered two really wonderful  bands – The Staves and Emily Barker – this week. Then I went tonight, Friday, to Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Soho.

I love jazz, but for reasons I couldn’t possible explain, I never went to Ronnie’s until last year. Inertia, only.

Four of us went tonight.We had a great meal beforehand – the place is all tables – and were still scoffing our steaks as as the support act came on. But what an act. My third discovery of the week. Sumudu. A beautiful woman with a beautiful voice. She had the house band backing her up – they were superb: double bass, keyboards, drums. Subtle, inventive, pure quality. And with that backing Sumudu floated and soared. She sang mostly covers on the night, but with such ease and emotion. A wonderfully smooth version of ‘The Shadow Of Your Smile”, one of those sixties classics, sung by Frank Sinatra and others. A heart rending version of Stevie Wonder’s “You And I” and a rousing version at the end of “You Make me Feel (Like a Beautiful Woman)”, a song I associate with Aretha Franklin.

What can I say? What I loved about Sumudu’s performance was the simple beauty of the songs and her voice. She seemed to sing effortlessly and yet with real passion. Technique and feeling.

The video here is another Stevie Wonder song. “All I Do”, which I’ve just picked off YouTube. Gives a sense of that effortless voice.

The main act on the night was Mark King and Friends. Mark was bassist with jazz funk band Level 42 in the 80s. He wasn’t playing old hits tonight, just vibrant jazz rock. Unbelievably good technique throughout the band. And a sense of fun, right down to the garish shirts. I enjoyed it. Wouldn’t race to to hear it again on iTunes, but it was good live music. Some music just works best in the live environment.

As we left, Sumudu was there by the exit, selling her CDs. My mate Dave bought two, one for me. Even though I download everything these days.  And I had to hand over the money! I didn’t mind – I’ll look forward to listening the album, hoping it will be as good as the live performance.

What’s so great about this music I’ve discovered this week – Sumudu, Emily Barker, The Staves – is that combination of simplicity and just truly beautiful singing.  The very essence of the song.

What is so wonderful is that we can keep on discovering…

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