I put this together especially with the Worcester Music Festival organisers in mind, as well as trying to capture the great music, it’s skill, artistry and fun, it was important to try and capture the energy and enthusiasm of the fundraisers and bring it together in one video, it also acted as a prompt to go to the brilliant full length performances as well:
2) Caravan Palace: Brotherswing
This Paris based act absolutely blew the crowd away at the Wychwood Festival in Cheltenham with their high energy and infectious set, they’ve since completed a massively successful tour of the USA since then with their electro-swing, it’s virtually impossible not to get absorbed into this!
3) Baby Godzilla Live At The Marrs Bar
Just wow! I didn’t expect to say that after watching a thrash metal band! An incredibly difficult act to film as they were all over the venue and frequently in darkness, once completed it felt like I’d made a documentary as opposed to a music video…this is performance art of the highest and most entertaining order
4) I Just Want To Make Love To You: Gwyn Ashton, Chris Lee & Vince Neads
A half a dozen people in the audience in a small pub in Bewdley and yet these three guitarists of the highest calibre just let loose and have great fun on the Muddy Waters classic and they were enjoying every minute of it…blues never felt so joyous!
5) On The Record with Nick J Townsend Pt2
A spoken word, documentary piece into a top 10 of the year? Well this was special to me, local metal legend Nick J Townsend opens up about his childhood depression in his own unique way and tells his story beautifully, it took no editing at all, Nick just went off in full flow, the only thing for me to do was to make sure he didn’t mind this going public…in typical style he said “if it helps anybody out there then just do it!”
6) David Onions: WIP (Work In Progress)
I was filming in a small, tight studio in Pershore for BBC Introducing, now that is usually difficult for filming but when David Onions produced this outstanding virtuoso piece it made the film come alive being so close to such brilliance!
7) Sam Ruane & This Wicked Tongue: Sail
One of those time where I had my camera and I thought my work was done when This Wicked Tongue and Sam Ruane launched into this brilliant track, this very tight band were keeping an impeccable groove while Sam did his stuff, rapping in the wrong hands can sound terrible but in Sam’s hands it was just magnificent…sheer class!
8) Dubvocaliza: Universal Love
Fabulous live act that graced our county, Dubvocaliza were up from London to join in the festivities at the Worcester Music Festival, not only were they a blisteringly good live act, they were a class act off the stage as well, supporting every act on before them and chatting to everyone after as well…universal love…living it…loving it!
9) 142 Snippets #1
I had so many lovely artists help me out on a crazy idea for an art project to bring the gentler side of acoustic music from Worcestershire to You Tube, it was difficult to pick one track, with so many wonderful performances, so it was just as well I made a compilation!
10) The Dublin Jacks: Add Me
I heard this song for the first time here and the lyrics and humour was brilliant and every time I’m on Facebook I want to sing the chorus, the very tough looking guy ‘doing his dance’ is brilliant and the verse that I absolutely love goes something like this “There’s a picture of me in me Nazi uniform, doing a trick with an egg, I’d like to perform, at the monster truck rally, me and Ray attend, would you like to add me as your friend?….NO!”
Welcome, I will attempt to be your guide to the dark world inhabitated by Six Foot Under, I will put musical signposts up along the way as you may need them to find your way back.
This story begins with the character you would normally encounter at your end and that is The Grim Reaper, it has an insistent bass driven beat and eerie vocals from the front man Jeremy Holtom but also some unsettling drifting female and childlike vocals, well you didn’t expect the Reaper to be a pleasant meeter and greeter did you.
Next up we get a Frankie Goes To Hollywood spoken section over an eighties electronica beat, remember this first sign post for The Way It Is, it exhorts an awakening for those who accept their lot in life, the backing vocals are surprisingly soulful, good to know someone has a soul in this place.
The Swamp is not going to lift your spirits, a battle to escape from dark forces with a Tangerine Dream soundtrack theme underscoring the narration and wailing.
Your next flag is Dr John as we meet the Voodoo Man, another narrated track over a slow dark funk groove, the backing vocals are very authentic and contribute much to the overall ambience of this.
Out Of The Chaos has a Dave Brock late period Hawkwind electronic groove, if it were the business of the future to be dangerous then let’s hope the Brave New World really does arise out of the chaos.
Like many of the best horrors children can add to the sinister nature of a scene, here they are inviting me to The Feast but I’m convinced I wouldn’t be enamoured with the company I would be sharing my supper with, there’s some excellent work on the drums here more of a jazz feel as opposed to the usual rock work you’d normally expect .
After The Party brings a nice change of instrumentation with some excellent saxophone playing over the electronica, the theme of personal change is a constant developing strain in this album.
Requiem For The World is a largely atmospheric piece with a Krautrock or even KLF feel, the female spoken word section actually creates some light on this generally dark journey, a nice change of pace toward the end with some nice piano in the background as well.
A mournful sax introduces The Bermuda Triangle a place of disorientation and loss, where are those signposts when you need them, we are in the realm of The Cosmic Jokers here.
And so here we are nearly at the end of the journey and we are Into The Dark and we are willing to enter, you didn’t expect a happy ever after did you, the only comfort you have in this realm is that you are not alone, there are a lot of people who are in the dark with you.
If this were a vinyl LP the final, bonus, track would play in a loop on the run out groove, ‘we are people not sheep-le’ well if I’ve been your shepherd and guided you through this album, well I’m walking away, you are people…and people…you are on your own…make your own way back…I’m sure they would approve!
On my travels this year I’ve probably seen another 200+ acts and if I wrote about all of them I could, quoting Laurie Anderson “write a book, that would be thick enough, to stun an ox”
These are the most memorable ones that I have pulled from my notes from the past year
Weak 13: You Don’t Love Me (Video Shoot), Base Studio 26/2/11
This was such a fun day out, the professionalism of the band and film crew was a joy to behold, I really don’t think people realise what a brilliant organiser Nick J Townsend is, every single extra was made to feel so important, he was clear in his direction of the shoot all day and every individual that left was thanked by Nick, warmly.
Nick always aims high and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if he got there….top man!
4oz Of Groove, Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton 4/3/11
Funny, you hear a lot of funk-lite on the radio etc but I see very few bands performing it on the local circuit, I think this band are from Wolverhampton and they are very skilful musically but the undoubted star of the group is the lead singer who has a velvet soul voice and oozes charisma.
Mothers Jam, Adam & Eve, Birmingham 13/4/11
There are some dominant genres of music around the Midlands so it’s always nice to come across something completely different, I’m a sucker for a bit of avant garde and this is duo delivers a lovely, gentle slice of it.
Unusually they are a clarinet and keyboard duo, with lovely observational lyrics from what they see from their riverboat or some seemingly out of context covers, if I had to compare their sound to anyone it would probably be Robert Wyatt though I would like to think that their name has some connection to the Mothers Of Invention.
The Me! Me! Me’s?, Marrs Bar, Worcester
If you were there that night you would know why I picked this, a great punk band with a lot of stage presence and they seemed to love every minute of what they were doing. I think every song was no longer than two minutes but they won over a largely blues based crowd who are used to extended solos, no mean little feat.
Ronin, Café Bliss, Worcester 12/6/11
Excellent set on this afternoon at Café Bliss, it was supposed to be outside but the heavens opened so we were all in a cosy little space together. I haven’t heard the rockier version of Ronin but the acoustic set certainly showed some strong song writing and musicianship, to me they sounded like Argus era Wishbone Ash.
The front man Kit looked great as the archetypal rock singer, all hair and leathers but the band need to join in on the image front as well, nothing drastic but enough to make it look like they in on the act as well.
Babble, Vines Park, Droitwich 3/7/11
Babble acoustic is interesting but to get them at their best you have to get them on a night like this, with a big stage, great lighting and superb sound courtesy of Ryan Tolley.
With these ingredients in place they truly come alive with Rob Williams sparkling guitar playing and Karen Langley doing an excellent job on vocals. I love their version of I Walk On Guilded Splinters
Lady Nade, Swan Inn, Great Malvern 10/7/11
Visiting Great Malvern from Bristol, Lady Nade blew away the audience on this beautiful late summer evening. Absolutely charming stage presence and had a wonderfully warm soul/jazz voice.
The song writing is exquisite and here is one lady that would not be out of place on Later with Jools Holland, the song Kiss This Troubled Mind was instantly brilliant.
Matt Woosey, Swan Inn, Great Malvern 10/7/11
I hadn’t seen Matt Woosey for a long time but this set was better than ever and he’s always had a big reputation on the local blues scene. I doubt if there is anyone who works and gigs harder than Matt.
On show tonight was some fantastic musicianship, great storytelling blues and I have no reservation in describing Matt as a class act, whether you think you like blues or not, go and see him the next chance you get, you will not be disappointed.
Evilwitch, Marrs Bar, Worcester 23/7/11
Evilwitch were one of the acts to see in and around Worcester this year, energetic, well structured songs and often with a big, hook laden chorus made their stage shows very enjoyable, you can’t listen to the controversial Rose McCain without that chorus buzzing around your head for days afterwards.
From a stage presence point of view, the whole band have a lot of charisma and are supremely confident, can they take over the neighbouring towns and cities like they have with Worcester?…if they want to, they could do it!
Redbook, Marrs Bar, Worcester 23/7/11
There’s a lot of talent here with Sam coming up with some great keyboard lines and Gareth has a great range on vocals. They are definitely stronger as a band than as a duo as it’s difficult to translate prog structured songs to an acoustic level.
On this evening they were on very good form amidst a very strong line up tonight, with songs like Wanted and Bad News being the highlights for me.
I still think they need to take a more original direction as their influences are to close to fandom, when they are listening to Muse they write like them and then the next band they like they go in that direction for instance Lady Gaga worshipped Queen, hence her name but her own songs bear no relation to this.
They’ve got something, just needs a direction that reflects themselves more.
This Wicked Tongue, Marrs Bar, Worcester 23/7/11
There was a terrific line up at this packed night at the Marrs Bar and This Wicked Tongue were on top form.
Tina V is rapidly growing in confidence as a front woman and the band are very professional and tight. On this night the audience were loving every minute of their set and it was a night of stage invasions and they earned theirs as well.
They’ve made a big impression in the last year on their quest for wider recognition and from my neutral ears they just need to find the killer song to gain entry to the next level, with the talent in this band I wouldn’t bet against them finding it
Robinson, Marrs Bar, Worcester, 30/7/11
Another emotion charged and packed night at the Marrs Bar saw Robinson and his band on top form. Robinson is an extremely strong song writer, writing coherent stories from start to finish which is a very elusive and sort after skill.
What I will not overlook here is the strength of a fabulous band behind him, all of them with a really strong pedigree as artists in their own right, a singer would give their right arm to get talent like this to get his songs so brilliantly across to the audience
The Roving Crows, Marrs Bar, Worcester 16/9/11
I caught half a set at Vines Park earlier in the year, so I was really looking forward to this full set and I wasn’t disappointed.
Paul O’Neill is a brilliant front man who works very hard to make sure every one in the audience leaves their gig having had a bloody good time.
Celtic folk/rock fusion is not my normal listening matter but the outstanding playing is just impossible to resist, Caitlin Barrett is mesmerising on fiddle and sets the whole gig alight.
Coming soon to a town near you?…you bet, they tour extensively having just completed a tour of Ireland I’m sure they’ll be back in Worcester again soon and when they do I urge you to go and see them.
Howard James Kenny, The Public, West Bromwich 9/10/11
I’d heard a lot about Howard James Kenny so I was delighted to finally catch up with him, there are very few truly ambient acts around and doing something different to everyone else will always get the thumbs up from me.
I’d imagine some of the noisier venues this may not work but here with the state of the art sound system at The Public and a very respectful audience this was a beautiful set, with tasteful effects and a super chilled vibe.
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