Music Reviews on Albums, Singles, Gigs, DVDs and Films – Clash Music

Virgin Atlantic Barbados Music Festival

ClashMusic — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:37:31 +0000

Fact one: everybody loves music festivals. If you don’t, you’re an idiot. Fact two: nobody likes standing around in the pissing rain for three solid days while your body dabbles with hypothermia. If you do like this, you’re an idiot.

Unfortunately, in the UK these two phenomena have a habit of coexisting. One way of solving the problem is to build a giant retractable roof over every single UK festival site, a la Wimbledon’s new Centre Court. The other way is to slack off the misery of the UK for a few days and head to a party-centric festival on an idyllic beach in Barbados. Any takers for the first option? Thought not.

The Virgin Atlantic Barbados Music Festival has been offering music, rum and fun on a small but beautiful southern corner of the island for three years now, and though you don’t have to try too hard to entice people to this kind of setting, a stellar musical line-up helped seal the deal.

Friday night saw a few of the rockier outfits open proceedings at a local bar, including Anglo-French retro rock act The Incredible Flyin’ Strings and Are You Experienced – a Hendrix tribute. And don’t give me no lip about tribute bands either – these lads were excellent, with John Campbell’s guitar wailing like the ghost of Hendrix, including some authentic teeth-on-string action during ‘All Along the Watchtower’, and other Hendrix staples.

Day two, and after speeding down to the secluded beach setting of Surfer’s Bay, the fact that you’re on a paradisaical Caribbean island really hits home: stalls serving cheap and delicious rum concoctions (maybe it’s the climate or the rum or both but it just tastes BETTER out here) nestle under palm trees as the sea laps away behind you. And the glorious Caribbean sun ain’t too shabby either – made even sweeter by knowing that it was tipping it down back in the UK. Whilst my brain struggled to accept that I was actually experiencing this ridiculously delightful scene, Local Bajan act The Fully Loaded Band climbed onstage to relay their captivating brand of melodic rock-tinged reggae to the crowd. A fine way to kick things off.

Headliners Dub Pistols, who were in perkier form than I after several nights of carnage (they do it for a living, I do it for a holiday. They won), arrived on stage to a predictably rapturous reception and played an absolute blinder of a set. Performing tracks from all four albums – and aided by the considerable lyrical skills of UK hip hop legend Rodney P and local Barbadian reggae heavyweight Red Star Lion – the Pistols’ melting pot of ska, hip hop, dub, live beats and a punky edge was the perfect soundtrack to the good-time vibe of the festival, with some well-placed roots in the local music scene.

Songs from latest album ‘Rum and Coke’ such as ‘Revitalise’ and ‘Peace of Mind’ went down a treat, before the band finished off with The Specials’ classic ‘Gangsters’, which saw the crowd bouncing along with Pistols’ singer and co-founder Barry Ashworth. Superb stuff. Catching up with the band after the show, I asked the band’s other co-founder, bassist Jason O’Bryan, how it went: “Hot! The set went really well, but it was hot up there – I had to lose the suit jacket pretty quickly!” Indeed – the Caribbean climate and a three-piece are always going to be a tough combo to pull off.

By Sunday, my quest to drink the festival (read: island) dry of marvellous local tipple Banks beer remained sadly unfulfilled (though the Dub Pistols and I put in a valiant effort all the same), but no matter, as there was still more music and misadventure to be had, as we saw the plug get pulled, literally, by the police during the second Are You Experienced set of the weekend. Apparently a ninety-five-year-old resident was none too pleased at the sound of Hendrix being perfectly recreated down the road from her. The show, of course, went on, and John retaliated by breaking out the lighter fluid and burning the shit out of his Stratocaster before hurling it across the stage. Jimi would no doubt be proud.

Sunday’s headline act was the Martin Harley Band – an enchanting three-piece from the UK who provided a fantastic set of lush blues and energetic, rootsy numbers, displaying more flair than many musicians I’ve seen over the years. The fact that all three are incredibly talented musicians also kind of helped, with Martin playing some outstanding slide guitar throughout the set, before finishing with – of all things – a slide cover of Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Child (Slight Return)’. Very nice indeed.

Desperately plotting a way to ‘miss’ my impending flight home – it’s hard to leave paradise once you’re there – I made my way over to the bar and the impossibly pretty barmaids for one last rum. It seemed rude not to.

Words and photos by Tristan Parker

Hush Arbors - Yankee Reality

ClashMusic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:57:52 +0000

With scene stalwarts Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr lining up in fervent support, ‘Yankee Reality’ is Keith Wood’s second Ecstatic Piece album after last year’s revelatory eponymous release.

Wood has taken his ghostly acid-fried folk-rock and bolted both feral garage and a carnal jangle to this Exocet of ideas. He manages to cajole J Mascis into overseeing production duties, while nudging His Slothness to knock out a ferocious riff on ‘For While You Slept’, which sounds like gloriously mangled Byrds.

‘Take It Easy’ is even better - a warped, honky tonk singalong, akin to a long-lost ‘Revolver’ track. Rarely has reality been as exciting.

8/10

Words by John Freeman

The Raincoats - The Raincoats

ClashMusic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:53:45 +0000

This thirtieth anniversary release of The Raincoats’ seminal debut album should help them clamber away from being merely a footnote in Kurt Cobain’s mythology.

The Nirvana demi-god was seemingly hugely indebted to this riveting mix of spiky proto-Riot Grrrl pop for providing him respite during his darker times, but their genre-blasting breakthrough as one of Britain’s first all-girl post-punk bands is a more fitting legacy. Their warped, deadpan cover of ‘Lola’ by The Kinks is deliciously subverted - Ana da Silva singing from the ‘male’ perspective about a man whose first love turns out to be a transvestite.

Magnificently timeless - to be unearthed and taken delight in.

7/10

Word by John Freeman

Joe Goddard - Harvest Festival

ClashMusic — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 12:48:39 +0000

If the name doesn’t ring a bell, the record label should, for Joe Goddard is the beardy fellow from Hot Chip, here giving his independent musical urges space to unfurl.

Released on his Greco-Roman label, with curious fruit themed song titles and the album’s title, you might fear some kind of concept album being offered up, but rest easy listeners, as Joe explains: “when making instrumental dance music, titles are often really meaningless anyway”. Taking lessons learnt from playing around the globe with his Greco-Roman Soundsystem, never mind the Hot Chip years, the twelve tracks here are roughly paced as for a night’s dancing, channelling Goddard’s expertise as DJ, and fan, of electronic music.

Just two of the tracks contain any kind of vocal, the robotic loop, “..and bullshit, and party, and bullshit, and party” of ‘Go Bananas’, and the more recognisably Hot Chip-like delivery on ‘Lemon And Lime (Home Time)’. Beginning with the luxurious, bubbling analogue synths of ‘Apple Bobbing’, it’s a low key but high quality opener before ‘Tinned Apricot’ continues things nicely and ‘Pear-Shaped’ offers up a more obtuse rhythm before the sweeping bassline of ‘Strawberry Jam’ makes itself known, moving the album onto the dance floor.

The aforementioned ‘Go Bananas’ keeps things moving before ‘Half-Lime Oranges’ gets all melancholic leading us into the vocal ‘Lemon And Lime (Half Lime)’. ‘Tropical Punch’, ‘Sour Grapes’ and ‘Pineapple Chunk’ go for a minimal approach, leading into ‘Mango Chutney’ (I warned you about the titles didn’t I?), perilously syncopated beat and album closer ‘Coconut Shy’’s blissful slow motion descent.

Given Greco-Roman’s peerless catalogue the pressure was on but the label boss shows the young ’uns how it’s done in fine style.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

Various - Kitsune Maison 8

ClashMusic — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:37:32 +0000

Reaching a ‘Now That’s What I Call Music’ like eighth volume, Kitsuné unleash their latest favourites and friends on this generous selection.

New kids this time out are the equally hyped Two Door Cinema Club, (with ‘I Can Talk’), and Delphic (with ‘This Momentary’), both deserving that hype too. Good to hear new material from Midnight Juggernauts, whose ‘Dystopia’ album was a firm favourite round these parts, and Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos delivers a remix of Chew Lips’ ‘Salt Air’.

The Drums’ whistler ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ is another immediate hit with an irrepressible joie de vivre (appropriately). A personal mixtape from your cool, French friend.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

Various - Balearic Biscuits 3

ClashMusic — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:32:15 +0000

First up, strike the title of this album from your mind as it really doesn’t do this first rate compilation any favours - it takes the Balearic umbrella as a jumping off point for lost classics old and new that sound just right at a certain time of day (usually just as the sun comes up).

Alongside the expected ‘unexpected’ tracks, here a role fulfilled by Simple Minds’ ‘League Of Nations’ and The Steve Miller Band’s ‘Journey To Eden’, there is the genuinely unexpected ‘Tonight’s Today’ from reformed Cockernee Jack Penate that sounds like a more mature Friendly Fires, but no less euphoric.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

Black Gold - Rush

ClashMusic — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:26:57 +0000

Made up of two of the ‘so hawt right now’ Brooklyn indie scene’s players, Black Gold’s Than Luu and Eric Ronick met as hired hands on an Ambulance LTD tour four years ago.

Quickly developing what they claim to be a telepathically close musical empathy, the pair have worked on and off over the past few years bringing this debut album to fruition. Swiftly dodging the hipster tag, the duo testify to ‘Rush’ as a labour of love, drawing on their talent friends and neighbours to help flesh out their vision.

Despite such credible beginnings, the results are surprisingly mainstream, big choruses and FM airplay beckon.

5/10

Words by Nick Annan

Twinkranes - Spektrumtheatresnakes

ClashMusic — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:52:56 +0000

Dublin trio Twinkranes were spotted by Twisted Nerve head honcho Andy Votel and signed up after one of their always impressive, mind-expanding live appearances.

‘Spektrumtheatresnakes’ sees the band, with the suitably adventurous monikers Blonde Fox, Rooster and Auburn Spinner, hone their psychedelia down to nine pulsating tracks with the nine-minute mark barely troubled. Taking the rhythmic devotion of dance music as their altar, they conjure an impressive from drums, bass and synths.

Recorded live in the studio, minus vocal overdubs, in three intense days, they capture the lysergic mood perfectly. A singular, courageous trip into rhythm, sounding at once organic and otherworldly.

8/10

Words by Nick Annan

Various - Panama! 3

Nick Annan — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:45:32 +0000

Subtitled with the does-what-it-says-on-the-tin name ‘Calypso Panameño, Guajira Jazz And Cumbia Típica On The Isthmus 1960-75’, this is the third in the series, a collection of twenty-three songs selected with assistance from Colombia resident, Quantic’s Will Holland.

Further showcasing the unique mix of the music of Panama, sandwiched as it is between North and South America, geographically and culturally, and its ‘Combos Nacionales’, groups influenced by the Black Power period in the US and brewing up a heady blend of funk, soul, salso, cumbia, calypso and more.

Giving a frame of reference is the album’s excellent linear notes, supplying welcome background and fleshing out these exotically titled performers and songs.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

Ex Libras - Suite(s)

ClashMusic — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:33:43 +0000

Though recorded in a garden shed by a trio who met while working in Hounslow Borough Library, these mundane beginnings don’t readily set you up for Ex Libras’ debut album, ‘Suite(s)’.

The kindred spirits, however, have gelled their love of “alternative music with a groove” into a post-rock (or post-breakbeat as they’d have it) dynamic maelstrom of guitar, piano, drums and atmospherics. Underpinning their excursions with a solid core of melody gives their songs an immediacy, draw in the casual listener, and those moments when vocalist Amit Sharma breaks through are worth treasuring, his howls on closer ‘19:04’ recalling Matt Bellamy or Sigur Ros’ Jonsi.

A bold, impressive debut.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

Various - And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Avant Pop

ClashMusic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:35:49 +0000

This amusingly titled album draws together People In The Sky’s friends and family for a superior trip through, as they say, avant pop.

The label that brought Friendly Fires to wider attention (cheers for that), People In The Sky here unveil their manifesto against modern life’s banality with fifteen exotic tracks. Friendly Fires’ ‘On Board’ appears remixed by Nightmoves, Warp’s Bibio remixes Wax Stag’s ‘Folk Rock’, Architeq’s ‘Sleeping Bear Lament’ is subjected to a James Pants makeover, while Richard Norris’ Time And Space Machine contribute ‘Children Of The Sun’.

6/10

Words by Nick Annan

Ghana Special, Modern Highlife, Afro-sounds & Ghanian Blues 1968-81

ClashMusic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:25:46 +0000

A labour of love, ‘Ghana Special’ is a work ten years in the making that took Soundway label boss, Miles Cleret, to Ghana to seek out the musicians, DJs and promoters who were so active in the scene.

A result of the collision of highlife, rock and soul as well as Ghana’s tradition and culture, the two discs feature thirty-three previously un-reissued songs from a cross section of the period’s bands including Oscar Sulley, who’s ‘Bukom Mashie’ appeared in the film ‘The Last King Of Scotland’, and Hedzolleh Soundz, who went on to back Hugh Masekela.

6/10
Words by Nick Annan

Choir Of Young Believers - This Is For The Whites Of Your Eyes

ClashMusic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:20:27 +0000

Although the focus is the majestic voice of frontman Jannis Noya Makrigiannis, Choir Of Young Believers is made up of a ten-strong collective from Denmark, all of whom boast their own side projects and bands.

Their own description of their music as “orchestral pop” is certainly suitable, with a rare complexity and depth delivered throughout, constructed around and supported by Makrigiannis’ initial piano and guitar sketches. Compared to Neil Young or Colin Blunstone, I hear more of My Morning Jacket’s Jim James in Makrigiannis’ wonderous voice.

Finding yourself checking that this is indeed their debut album is a sign of the monumental achievement here. Count me a believer.

7/10
Words by Nick Annan

Shut Up And Dance - How The East Was Won 1989-2009

ClashMusic — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:04:56 +0000

Growing from the illegal party scene back in the late ’80s, Smiley and PJ, set up Shut Up And Dance as an outlet for their own material.

Fast-forward twenty years and ‘How The East Was Won’ documents the pair’s amazing ride across three discs spanning the tracks, artists and movements that have made up Shut Up And Dance Music, the label. Also featuring Ragga Twins, Nicolette, Peter Bouncer and Rum And Black, anyone of a certain age will be transported back in time, as the roots of many subsequent scenes unfold over the set.

An essential history lesson.

7/10

Words by Nick Annan

The Antlers - Hospice

ClashMusic — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 15:00:46 +0000

Formerly the singer/songwriter Peter Silberman, now a real band with the addition of drummer Michael Lerner and multi-instrumentalist Darby Cicci, The Antlers make full use of their newly expanded talents on ‘Hospice’.

News that the theme of the album is of a carer looking after a terminally ill relative, and being destroyed by the experience, makes the album sound like a daunting listen. The reality is of an ebbing and flowing symphony of tender vocals and shoegazing guitar washes, expressing the narrative tension with admirable empathy, punctuated by blasts of reverb drenched choruses.

A quantum leap from those singer/songwriter beginnings, ‘Hospice’ is a remarkable record.

6/10

Words by Nick Annan

Dubai Sound City - Saturday

ClashMusic — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:56:29 +0000

What the hell is going on in Dubai? These workaholics seem to only party on one day of the week. While Friday night was bustling, Saturday looks to be dying on its arse.

It’s such a shame, as there’s some class acts today. Nitin Sawnhey, often called the most talented man in the world, for some unknown reason takes an early slot and plays to a grand total of about 20 people, leaving a later time for the agonisingly horrendous The Parlotones from South Africa and their bland, bland, bland mellow tripe. Why? Apparently, the Parlotones' bass player wasn’t allowed in to Dubai, so I’m guessing he is the brains behind their success to date.

The schedule on this final day is a bit of a mess, mainly because of Echo and the Bunnymen’s last minute cancellation. It means the Super Furry Animals and Liverpool scallies The Wombats have to bare the brunt of the final day of this festival, which they do marvellously by the way.

After an unspectacular offering by Alphabeat, The Wombats rip the place up, finally bringing some energy to the crowd. Either they are die hard fans at the front, or just releasing some internal frustration. Whatever it is, it is great. With the best of their small bunch of songs, like 'Laura', 'Patricia The Stripper' and 'Let’s Dance to Joy Division' and an amazingly mental 'Moving to New York', there is jumping, cheering and many a sweaty flick of hair. ‘We thought we’d try and be Dubai Sound City’s sweatiest band…I think we’ve pulled it off,’ says the dripping singer.

Apparently the organisers received mountains of abuse from Dubai’s teens, who couldn’t see their idols because of the tight over 21s only policy. Poor lot – this would have been a dream come true. The late 20-somethings went crazy on their behalf though.

The end of The Wombats leaves the night in one band's hands. ‘We’re Echo and the Bunnymen from Cardiff,’ said the Super Furry Animal’s Gruff Rhys to rapturous applause before crouching gnome-like at the front of the stage to sing an understated and beautiful 'Slow Life'. While the band look like some aging rockers on stage after the wrinkleless youth of The Wombats (I think their average age is about 17), their ability to mesmorise and wow their audience with some top tunes from their last nine albums is clear. They are, to put it simply, amazing.

'Rings Around the World', while a little ramshackled, is beautful, ending in a mass of electro fuzz. 'Justapose With You', 'Hello Sunshine' and 'Demons' are sweet and the jumping, cheering bodies of just an hour ago are replaced with eyes starring in wonder. While the night and Dubai Sound City comes to an end, a band forced to censor their set list because their songs were deemed too political play 'Crazy Naked Girls', whether as a plug for their last album or a subtle couple of fingers up to this strict nation's rule makers. The hugeness of the song, Bunf's screeching vocals and blues-ey guitar riff, and layer upon layer of ear-splitting immense racket is perfect. Not only is the band having a great time, but Dubai Sound City is left musically content.

So while this little taste of Liverpool's music scene has been wracked with problems, while ticket sales were obviously pretty low and beer so expensive, and while the atmosphere was some what none existent in the day time, we must remember that this is the first festival of its kind here. First festivals are always a nightmare, without a ten hour flight and so many risks of prison getting the way. It means that Dubai's Sound City must be tough to put together and all credit must go to the organisers for making a great job out of something so easy to go wrong.

Here's hoping that Sound City makes it back to Dubai for 2010 and that a last minute 'illness' outbreak doesn't get in the way.

Words By Gemma Hampson
Photos by Mark McNulty

Broken Records

ClashMusic — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:05:27 +0000

“We’ve only been on tour for three days and everything is fucked,” says Broken Records lead singer Jamie Sutherland. The band have broken off their performance in West London’s Bush Hall, faced with short-lived technical difficulties. But if this is Broken Records when things go wrong, seeing them on a good night must be mind-blowing.

White Belt Yellow Tag provide a compatible warm up and a pleasing enough precursor, but are sadly forgettable compared to what follows – the sparklers to this evening’s sky-filling rockets, if you will (it is the 5th of November after all).

Broken Records have, now infamously, been called the ‘Scottish Arcade Fire’, and onstage the seven-piece have a similarly bold presence and epic reach. Their arrangements are often dense enough to be called chamber pop, but musically they far more often swerve to folk-inspired instrumentation, either connecting with their Celtic roots or drawing from continental traditions with accordion and gypsy violin.

While debut album ‘Until The Earth Begins To Part’ is dominated by melancholy and even flirts with despair, much of Broken Records’ performance tonight is more about making people dance. Sutherland has been criticised for overblown melody lines that drown out the rest of the band, but onstage the whole band come alive, revealing both the subtleties of their more tender songs and the wildness of their most fierce ones.

The audience (who admittedly don’t fill the suitably opulent venue) are transfixed into silence one minute and fired up into frantic dancing the next, and call the band out for a triumphant encore. Fireworks might be exploding outside but the night’s real celebrations are going on in here.

Words by Steve Harris

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Read ClashMusic's Ones To Watch feature on the band, from March 2008, HERE

Dubai Sound City - Friday

ClashMusic — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 09:48:23 +0000

The headlining acts were met with a sea of faces on Friday, which is lovely to see after the sparseness of the opening day. It is, quite literally, rammed.

While the daytime acts go down okay, they are not what pull the crowd. The buzz is most definitely about the Happy Mondays. Will Shaun Ryder turn up? Can he cope with the no booze and no swearing? Will Bez be wearing an overcoat?

After a slow start and a lot of hanging around while prayers took over (didn’t someone tell them it was the Sabbath?), the night gets going.

Gabriella Climi is chaperoned on site by her mum and needs a special license to perform, being that she’s still a child, but her performance of harmless pop is a good one. ‘Sweet About Me’ had the crowd singing and she wins over a few stubborn souls with her 'Whole Lotta Love' cover.

The Automatic, minus the small shouty one, play fast and loud and everyone joins in on ‘What’s That Coming Over The Hill’, but they sound pretty average and bit last year, as do The Courteeners, who play a mix of noisy indie and a tiny slice of twee.

Ocean Colour Scene take the second from top spot on the night, which is an odd choice being that they haven’t done anything good since 1995. ‘Fight No More’, ‘Hundred Mile High City’ and 'The Day We Caught The Train’ are entertaining enough, but the rest is dull as dish water. It doesn’t matter though, as the atmosphere builds for the Manchester headliners.

The first disappointment? No Bez. Apparently he was ‘taken ill’ and couldn't get on the flight. Make of that what you will. Shaun does his best, but he looks a shadow of his former self, hanging near the back of the stage and struggling to hear his monitors. With his finger in his ear for half the set, it looked like he was singing down a mobile phone. To give him credit though, with such strict laws and Shaun’s well-known reliance on certain things back home, it was almost a miracle that he made on stage at all. And to given him even more credit, after a couple of songs to settle in, Shaun perks up a little and makes some hilarious observations. "We’ve had to cut some of this song because we’re not allowed to swear on stage. You’d get two years or something," he says just before an "fuck" slip up and a "shit" mistake. Oops!

‘Step On’ opened the show, but instead of blasting these fans, (who you have to remember have been pretty much starved of live music for months), with the hits they crave, the Mondays choose to showcase some newer material. It kind of doesn’t matter though, especially as ‘Loose Fit’ and ‘Kinky Afro’ give the crowd exactly what their after.

The biggest disappointment of the day was hearing that De La Soul hadn’t made it leaving a bit of a gap in the schedule.

Saturday is quiet as a mouse and the crowd is thin on the ground again for bands like Alphabeat, The Wombats and Super Furry Animals. Even Nitin Sawnhey had to cope with playing in front of about 20 people.

It’s a shame and it doesn’t look set to get better after the news that Echo & the Bunnymen aren’t turning up for the headline slot due to another ‘illness’. With so many sales expected on the night, it could be a disaster for Sound City. Let’s hope SFA pull a bit of magic out the bag to keep everyone going.

Words by Gemma Hampson

Biffy Clyro Live - Southampton

ClashMusic — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:15:36 +0000

It’s a shame that the Scottish three piece had to play Southampton so early on in the tour, not anything negative on their part, rather the fact that the tours main support, Canada’s much hyped Manchester Orchestra are currently completing a support slot in the USA and are unable to fill their early commitments.

In their place are Tellison, a West London based indie foursome who despite their best efforts just lack any kind of punch to wake up the early arrivals. If Tellison lacked a punch then Pulled Apart By Horses could give Mike Tyson a run for his money. What follows is a brash crescendo of organised chaos in danger of falling apart at any second. While not as radio friendly as their hosts, PABH put in a stellar shift that will have bought the boys from Leeds numerous new admirers.

The large curtain that had split the stage is now removed to reveal a lighting rig as epic as Biffy Clyro’s sound. The usual chants of “'mon the Biff” seem somewhat muted for a change before they strut out onstage to deliver a monstrous 23 song set, starting off with 'Only Revolutions' opener 'That Golden Rule'. A set that promises both old and new, is better defined as 'Puzzle' and new, with only 4 songs taken from the 3 albums that preceded their eponymous breakthrough to the mainstream. Not that there will be too many complaints from tonight's sold out crowd.

Each cut from Biffy Clyro’s 2007 release is warmly received by a crowd seemingly happy to just stand still and soak up the spectacle before them. It’s not until the set draws to a close with the aptly named 'Saturday Superhouse' and latest single 'The Captain' that really raises the intensity in the crowd. By the time the encore rolls around Simon Neil has removed his shirt to reveal the live look that has become a trademark for many a Biffy Clyro fan over the years, and even if the acoustic driven 'As Dust Dances' slows down the heartbeat of the audience, and makes me wish that people still swayed their lighters to slow songs, before 'Mountains' picks the audience back up and sends them off into the night.

Words and Photo by Benji Walker

Jay-Z Live

ClashMusic — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:52:11 +0000

Tickets for this one-off performance at London’s Alexandra Palace sold out in 15 seconds. Certainly the excitement is palpable amongst the 7000-strong crowd crushed into the grand Main Hall, the sense of anticipation heightened by the giant digital count-down on the enormous on-stage video screens.

On cue, Jay Z swaggers on stage wearing sunglasses and “all black everything”, and tears through a selection of cuts from latest album, 'The Blueprint 3', including ‘D.O.A’ and ‘Run This Town’. The full backing band adds some real percussive punch to ‘99 Problems’ and gets the crowd dancing to the futuristic funk of the Pharrell Williams' produced ‘I’m a Hustler, Baby’.

From such a promising opening, the set begins to fall a little flat. Jay-Z introduces Memphis Bleek to help hype the crowd but curiously Jay himself doesn’t seem to get out of second gear. There are pauses between songs, the ‘H-to-the-Izzo’ segue into Jackson 5’s ‘I Want you Back’ doesn’t quite work and the crowd seem unfamiliar with much of the slower material off the new album.

Jay Z’s ode to NY, the epic if somewhat cringe-worthy ‘Empire State of Mind’, gets the crowd singing along but they seem distracted, frustrated even, as Jay then auto-pilots through a medley of hits. Jay-Z’s flow and superlative word-play are what set him apart as the CEO of hip-hop but the crowd gets to enjoy little of this. It’s all chorus and bluster. He teases with the piano loop of ‘Lucifer’ but then cuts straight into the pomp of ‘Crazy in Love’. A couple of verses of ‘Big Pimpin’ enliven sections of the audience but as Jay-Z exits the stage, the crowd aren’t particularly vocal for his return.

Jay-Z comes back on stage to play, inevitably, ‘Encore’ and brings out... ahem... “protege” Mr Hudson for an ill-conceived rendition of ‘Young Forever’. As Jay Z bids the crowd goodnight with backing band playing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (huh?), the lights go up and we head home, somewhat confused and ever-so-slightly disappointed.

Words by Steven Appleyard