Stereo Jealousy

The review for this show was already formulating in my mind as I journeyed to Chalk Farm. Desert blues band from western Africa wonderfully out of place in a venue steeped in British industrial heritage, at an event sponsored by one of the western world’s biggest brands. Culture clash anyone? Things didn’t quite turn out that way as I was about to find out.

Oi Va Voi were up first, and an enthusiastic crowd rose to their energetic performance, led by the engaging Bridgette Amofah. Whilst the frontwoman’s vocals ranged across the soul influenced end of the pop spectrum, the rest of the band mined a eclectic seam. There were the obvious Jewish klezmer influences (the band’s name roughly translates from the Yiddish for oh dear!), shot across by the Balkan folk strings from violinist Anna Phoebe, all revolving around a resolutely western European rhythm section. It struck me as slightly too busy, the highlight coming on the relatively laid back Photograph off the band’s recent Travelling The Face Of The Globe LP. Judging by the reaction of the crowd, who joined in clear favourite Refugee, they’d won a fair number of new fans.

Shortly afterwards an array of small amplifiers and acoustic guitars had lined the stage, and the seven members of Tinariwen appeared – clad, as always in traditional gear. As they began their set the band could seldom be heard amongst the hubbub of the more apathetic members of the crowd, sadly a trait that seems to be overcoming even the most expensive of London shows. Despite a quiet start the band quickly hit their stride, with vocal harmonies ringing across the stage. Percussive duties were filled by a single man and multiple hand claps, providing a playful rhythm around which multiple guitar lines wound.

In complete contrast to Oi Va Voi it was easy to place the sound of the band, not needing the colourful imagery of their homeland behind them to highlight its origin. However it was also in complete contrast to Amadou & Mariam, the Malian band I’d seen support Blur a few days earlier, despite sharing the same musical cues. This was undoubtedly the music of the desert, the wonderfully ceaseless and cyclical bass mimicking the never-ending dunes. And yet it fitted the venue perfectly. There was no jarring juxtaposition – Tinariwen deserve to playing venues like this to crowds this size and I doff my cap to iTunes for putting the band on an otherwise pretty conservative bill. A mesmeric performance by the former Touareg rebels.

Oi Va Voi – Photograph
Tinariwen – Imidiwan Afrik Tendam

Watch Tinariwen perform Amassakoul at Live 8 Eden

Morton Valence: Bob And Veronica Ride Again
Released 4th May 2009
Bastard Recordings

Morton Valence’s debut is an achingly British slab of pop, so desperate to tell us the story of the title’s namesakes that it comes packaged with a romantic novella. Thankfully, unlike many concept records, the album forms a coherent whole and begs to be listened to from start to finish. It does this whilst constantly shifting in style; dipping from Jesus And Mary Chain style shoegaze on the fantastic “I Must Go,”Said Veronica, “But I Will Always Come Back” through to classic electropop reminiscent of Saint Etienne or Black Box Recorder . The similarities to the latter don’t end there either, with Anne Gilpin recalling the glacial delivery of Sarah Nixey.

Whilst treading the same well worn boards as their pop peers Morton Valence carry the whole thing off with such charm, wit and panache that it never comes across as anything but original. I can’t wait for word to catch on about this glorious piece of work, and I suspect neither can the fans who invested in ’shares’ of the album to ensure its release. A wonderful album that deserves to be near the top of the pile come the year end reckoning.

Rating:

For our London readers there are a couple of opportunities to catch Morton Valence over the next few weeks in the city. The first is on June 25 at the last of their Bob And Veronica Book Club events at The Enterprise, and also a chance for a bit of a boat party on July 9 as they play the Battersea Barge.

Morton Valence – Hang It On The Wall (mp3)
Morton Valence – Chandelier (video)

Band site

Last.fm

Myspace
You can buy the CD version of the album that comes with the novella from the band’s website.

As the clamour grows around the release of Manners next week one remix has been ruling them all on the blogosphere – Calvin Harris’s discotastic slant on The Reeling. With this post I hope to redress the balance to a more subtle, sweeter and well, less ‘look at me, look at me’ re-rub. You can’t imagine my joy when this popped into my inbox – the press release claiming the original was screaming out for an Afrobeat take on things. Not the most obvious way of going for me but by jove it works. Wallpaper. had previously jiggled about with Sleepyhead to great effect, although this is better. Don’t believe me? Try it for yourself!

Passion Pit – The Reeling (Wallpaper. Remix)

Photo: Jalapeño

Maxïmo Park: Quicken The Heart
Released 11th May 2009
Warp

I liked Maxïmo Park. I thought the debut album was a pretty damn good record, certainly deserving of being on the hallowed Warp label. Second album was a little bit off colour, but packing enough punchy tracks to bear out repeated listens. Shame then that Quicken The Heart continues that downward trend – this time lacking any songs of flair or interest. The opening four or so tracks pass by without hook or standout. Sadly the band seems to have taken their always-present “big sound” leanings and replicated it over the course of an album. Gone are the stop-start moments that made tracks like Apply Some Pressure so exhilirating; replaced with leaden words and single paced tunes. There’s only a couple of tracks that lifted the monotony, the glittering Calm and darkly raw Roller Disco Dreaming. At times it comes across as lightweight as an 80s synthpop album, only lacking the immediacy and subtlety; all flash no bang. Despite the immediacy there is no pop hook; for all the stadium sound, there’s no shout-along chorus. This places the album in no-man’s land, passing the listener by and leaving nothing behind.

Rating:

Calm (mp3)
The Kids Are Sick Again (Video)

Band Site

Myspace

Last.fm

Buy Quicken The Heart

Photo: Stuart Leech

My date with the night came at the end of a very busy week of shows for me – in fact after the brilliance of Polly and John on the Monday (review to follow soon) I headed into this gig with a little sense of anti-climax. Goodness knows why, It’s Blitz! is a fantastic record, taking the trio’s sound into new and shiny areas. The Empire is packed by the time we get inside, having already missed Art Brut, much more so than the other two shows I’ve seen here over the last week. I guess this is the buzz ticket, the touts outside weren’t selling -  only buying. The anticipation on the floor is heady, people are jabbering, pushing and impatient to see exactly how the band would make the step up to the big league.

The eye from the Zero cover looms over the stage and in a blaze of colour, and not many words, the band appear. Karen is shrouded in fibre-optic style headgear as they immediately launch into Heads Will Roll, whipping the crowd into a massed frenzy. The next few tracks whizz by in showers of glitter cannon rounds and I’m struck just how slick the band has become – they’re putting on a real show. For most of the first half of the set I struggle with the notion in my head, I’m used to seeing the singer writhe around on the floor emitting either wild shrieks or guttural roars. As my companion pointed out it just all felt, well, too rehearsed. Part of what drew me to them as a live proposition was the thrill of the unexpected , the seemingly improvised guitar work.

Perhaps, I thought, it is a symptom of trying to recreate the new tracks and their synth lines in a live setting – it ties the band down to strict routine. Take Hysteric for example, lacking the pace and bounce of the rest of the set, being almost a facsimile of the album version. The feeling begins to dissipate with airing of some of their oldest material, Miles Away sounded as urgent and thrilling as it ever did and Pin equally chaotic. Towards the end of the main set they’re winning me around, the night seems to have picked up pace and they thunder through Zero and Y Control to finish all too quickly.

The encore began with a cloying list of thank yous seemingly longer than the setlist, before lulling into a neat version of Maps. Following that though was the big surprise, and possibly the show’s saving grace, an astonishing rendition of Art Star complete with attempted mic-swallowing, screams and cutesy “do-do-do’s”. It is an absolute blast, as is the closer Date With The Night. In a way, I’m not sure how to sum the gig up. Sure the songs sounded great, the crowd loved it – if the whole thing was a little short. However I couldn’t help coming away thinking that despite sounding great on wax, the new stuff had stripped away the best thing about the band’s live act – spontaneity.

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Art Star
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero

Photo: Hidden Shine