WELCOME! This blog is for all of you who felt impressed by a record,a book,a movie,a concert or an artist's interview and want to share it with us.Write about anything you want!A new release,a list of best albums or movies of the year,the soundtrack of your life,a well kept cult secret,a ghost band who finally deserved so much more than a tough destiny in music business.So don't hesitate anymore...GO WITH OUR FLOW!
(in alphabetical order) 1.BOOKHOUSE BOYS:"The Bookhouse Boys"Epic alternative rock dramas ,a daring Tarantino hue, strong mariachi horns, the necessary fatal vocal duets, fine parts for a mesmerizing noir sound.
2.CHERRY GHOST:"Thirst For Romance"High class alternative country rock songs for common people with a pure sentiment that finally sets reality more valuable than fiction.
3.GOLDFRAPP:"The Seventh Tree"Alison gets academic in intelligent folktronica and acts Frazer and Bush in the woods, offering promenades instead of hot dancing.
4.HER NAME IS CALLA:"The Heritage"Haunting post rock ambience pushes to a deep well of tension where fear and salvation walk hand in hand-slow difficult steps of agony draw you nearer.
5.MARILLION:"Happiness Is The Road"After the indifferent and neutral "Somewhere Else", they race their travelling tunes sharing directions but keeping their sensitivity-and we have always to deal with THIS voice.
6.NO MAN:"Schoolyard Ghosts"We almost forgot Bowness' easy way to seduce over piano and acoustic guitars carpet with a voice of desolate beauty and childhood nostalgia.
7.PENDRAGON:"Pure"Art rock veterans prove to be openminded to modern proposals and return with a richer sound,a new fascinating drummer, more porcupine-ish views and their best album since "Masquerade Overture".
8.PIERCES:"13 Tales Of Love And Revenge"Hot Pierces Sisters sound pleasant and dangerous,silly and wise, complicated but definite and finally they have the guts to punish us with a weird sexy death.
9.TINDERSTICKS:"The Hungry Saw"Old mates from Nottingham return after a serious break reminding of the old good days even if now being just the half of them-drunken bitterness and macabre humour in a grab of bright new songs.
10.WOVEN HAND:"Ten Stones"Edwards' familiar imposing figure races his symbols with a strong religious fever, a threatening ,titanic percussion and a company of holy spirits and personal demons.
iLiKETRAiNS - ELEGIES TO LESSONS LEARNT by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
An honest simple answer lurks behind the weird name "iLiKETRAiNS", representing a flock of persons writing songs about historical tragedies:"a certain sense of eccentric Englishness..."answered the guys from Leeds.Their first full length album titled "Elegies to lessons learnt" follows the trails of "Progress reform" EP building a nucleus of echoing circles upon the fact that humanity fails to learn from its mistakes.Characters taken from dusty, forgotten pages from history books meet with their tough fate in huge waves of bursting guitars and percussion but also unfold their agony in patient streams of paralyzed nostalgia.The musical path as a building of sound but also as an evolution hides traces of Explosions In The Sky, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mono, A Silver Mt. Zion, and Sigur Ros producer Ken Thomas sounds also responsible for this slice of common ground.The morose and acting baritone voice of David Martin captures the perfect dose of seriousness turning this compilation of "figures-surrounded-by-failure" tales into a constant heavy conclusion for the never ending circles of history and fate.From the great fire of London in "25 sins" to the assassinated british prime minister in "Spencer Perceval", and from the Salem witchhunt trials in "We go hunting" to the bubonic plague in Eyam village in "We all fall down", all those persons from the avant-garde of history reflect sympathy and mourn, knowledge and vainness, braveness and desperation.The coin of day and night ,the battle of life is the translation of their sound and all these dark structures of their songs ,beyond the tragedy reveal also a touching heroism...iLiKETRAiNS dare and succeed to use unusual themes and lyrical origins to offer their musical proposal in our days without ending to sound ridiculous.After millions of similar lyrical lines and boring love songs, they come up with a weird treasure of true stories for persons that really existed, carried with a cinematic soundtrack of ringing guitars, bursting percussion, shy parts of brass and cello, a slowly narrating sad voice and basically...great expectations.
GOLDFRAPP: ALISON HIDING BEHIND THE SEVENTH TREE by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
There is a rare bird sinking into bucolic soundscapes.She smoothly spreads her voice echoing between the temples of Kate Bush and Liz Fraser: an ethereal,vivid child gently deserting her former sexuality...All that electro-pop, glam beat lustful rhythm has faded in the distance of empty dancehalls.Alison is pulling Will Grecory by the hand to a dim pastoral horizon haunted by an eerie romance.Rural Somerset was the right place to accept the influences of Nick Drake, early Pink Floyd and the soundtrack of cult english horror classic "The wicker man" and finally lead them to a misty stillness of their folktronica style.Acoustic guitars, string arrangements and harp samples carve the path with a pseudo-retrospective suspicion ,sometimes easy listening lullabies sounding like traps or modern pagan psychedelic folk ceremonies promising everything and nothing."Clowns"captures the frame of "The seventh tree" with Alison's haunting throat transforming the words like jumping from glorious 4AD heroes Cocteau Twins days.The same crystalline distortion seals the evolution of "Little bird" as the sexy,glam,dancing heroine of "Black Cherry" and "Supernature" has turned into a fairy playing games of patience and spiritual expectation in a world with birds' masks and newspaper hats.All of her imaginary lovers on the planet follow her gently in her numb ,hypnotic,woozy landscapes turning their dance-steps into deep confession promenades.From the sensitive irony of "Clowns" and mystically singing about breast implants("only clowns would play with those balloons") to the pavement smell of the rain completing an inevitable circle in "Monster Love" ("everything comes around,bringing us back again, here is where we start and where we end"),Alison takes every pose of expectation sometimes as a quiet observer,others as a vivid girl obeying to weird voices in her head.As you race all of her pastoral promenades to find her former ego, all of a sudden you realize that the adventure was no bad at all.The point of the journey is not to arrive...
13 TALES FROM THE DIARY OF THE PIERCES by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
Don't miss the pleasure of listening to "Thirteen tales of love and revenge",before seeing pictures of Catherine and Allison ,the Pierce Sisters...the Pierces.You have a long wide corridor of fantasy to build the reflection of those pretty vocal harmonies in your head..."Secret" will help you pick up the eyes, the eyes that betray and disappoint, the eyes that reveal the moto "two can keep a secret if one of them is dead"...And it will be a fine macabre entrance to the trap carnival of seductive Pierces as a gothic sex sunset will hypnotize your armour with a rich stylistic parade of musical decoration."Boring" will lead you to the right lips ,somekind of a siamese hill to scream out your favourite parody-anthem of lifestyle celebrities emptiness, dancing naked on both tops.You' ve been deep in their forest of love and death, rage and forgiveness,rain and fire,madness and tenderness and the witches pick up their weapons-shining in the dark from producer Roger Greenawalt-and hide them in the bushes, from country folk lullabies ,pure pop diaries, to sly cabaret, electroclash and synthesized dance rock.You are confused now between lust and fear, as the clear voice of delicate childhood somehow ends to the deep sweating order of a sexual fantasy.Catherine and Allison, Allison and Catherine, the former ballerinas Alabama sisters who received home-schooling from their hippie parents in their childhood, have used such diverse views to help you find out their picturebook of thirteen tales and finally make you paint their portraits.When the witche's breath demands "make love with the lights on baby, tell me what you see, clear the bed to lie on darlin', make a mess of me, here's my dress to try on baby, let me be your man, i will call you pretty darlin', tell me what i am..." you are finally willing for everything.Well, the time is right now to check their photos and videos... Distance will keep as always everything perfect...
IT'S IMMATERIAL: DRIVING AWAY FROM...FAME by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
When you name your first album "Life's hard and then you die" you should be prepared for the worst...Three former members of "Yachts" formed "It's Immaterial" in 1980: John Campbell vocals, Martin Dempsey guitar and Henry Priestman keyboards. After surviving in waves of changes they ended to a duo by 1984: John Campbell and Jarvis Whitehead guitar and keyboards who joined in 1982. But, before the moto-title of their first album becomes cynically true ,life tried to seduce them waving gently a flag of fame, as "Driving away from home" was a hit single been featured widely on television advertisements and 1980s based compilation albums. This glorious opener, a careless proposal to a brief road movie vacation was an optimistic ,fresh introduction to the rich world of their first album, back in 1986. Musically there is a vivid parade all over the sounds of the era, new wave,country,folk,synth pop,even blues and ethnic. The skill of the band's orchestration and the production of it lead to a definite,intelligent,concrete and well-realised album:it was a daring bet, but the untied borders of it could at the same time ensure a homogenius result. The cinematic "The better idea" probably hides the perfect symmetry of the spirit that Liverpool duo was hiding: their intelligent nostalgia drives perfectly this dreamy anthem to a fogy end. It's Immaterial enjoyed a second successful single with "Ed's funky dinner" and life was no bad at all...Even if "Driving..." went Top 20 almost all over continental Europe with minimal promotion, the duo decided to listen to the voice of their hearts.Heading on to their next album,"Song", they drove to quiet isolated, polite and sensitive clearings of soulsearching music, ending to ten stories that simply happen in the north of England. Campbell and Whitehead didn't aim for a single moment to find the followers of their first album's singles. From the promenade of memories in "New Brighton" to the childhood visions of "Your voice" their music is driven by a bare human need to let an inner personal world come out gently.If there was a suspicion for a probable single ,it would be "Heaven knows", but finally this delicate masterpiece of intelligent storytelling pop music behind a brilliant cover ("Mount St.Hilarion And The Castle Ruins" by David Bomberg,1948) remained in the shadows ,selling less than 7000 copies in the UK ,back in difficult 1990... Virgin Records dropped many artists and between them "It's Immaterial". Rumors said that at that time (1993) they had just completed another album...Campbell and Whitehead left without a trace ,diving back to anonymity like they had never existed in the music business.Finally, life's hard even after a "Song"...
CHERRY GHOST (UK) - THE NORTHERN TOWN BLUES by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
Simon Aldred is a Bolton native with an interesting past as a solo artist.His musical reality has now turned to a full band called "Cherry Ghost",a name taken from Wilco song "Theologians".Simon Aldred has the gift of seeing demons dancing across factory floors...Aldred's statement "Willie Nelson meets Walt Disney" makes Bolton's heavy industry mysterious and promising:all this kind of simple human magic ended with "Thirst for romance" claiming an unexpected #7 slot in the UK album charts.A catchy seduction of country and indie rock opens the door to daily sympathetic shortcuts from life in Bolton.No high hopes ,no supernatural heroes,no immortal promises blow in the streets of his hometown.Aldred sings about his mates, silent heroes in a limited universe where sentiments still breath out serious reasons to create tunes in deep simplicity.Producer Dan Austin ,known from Massive Attack, sounds to respect the composer's aim for the return of classic old pop songs and the instruments-basically guitars,piano,drums and string arrangements-finally flow to drive the tales vivid, lively and eternal.The key to the final result is, beyond any doubt,Aldred's voice, a storyteller's friendly voice creeping over the pillows of humanity at night, revealing the importance of daily quiet tales of common people and building the personal triumph of finally inventing an audience for the passions of common people.Bittersweet well-crafted manouevres support his heartfelt lyrics digging into ordinary lives melting in time, anthemesque lines lift fameless characters and his kind type of voice stands certain and willing to advice like an old friend always been there.As any kind of rich and important album, many will find traces of hypothetic influences, from Johnny Cash to Smog and Bill Callahan, from Starsailor to Richard Hawley or from Sparklehorse to Richard Ashcroft.But sharing the distance of a Bolton native talented composer singing his north town chronicles of modern romance, we only have to deal with a block of first class authentic songs, from the uplifting country rock title track to the charming and definite proposal of the single "People help the people" and finally ending to the almost art rock hyperclassic diamond of "Mathematics"...Aldred's effort to escape the monotonous noise from the heavy industry in the northern end of England and seek something of beauty finally makes sense.We have already started to remember him with a smile on the face...
more info @ http://www.cherryghost.co.uk www.myspace.com/cherryghostband
The clearness of a spring day in February ended to a sly rain as The Trees were almost completing their soundcheck.A few lucky who watched it, heard an unbelievable version of "Under the stars",but it is rather impossible to perform the beauty of "Under the stars"in a mediocre way.As it was expected (LF)TRABM raced the basic part of their performance, starting with the epic "Domed" ,strong and serious enough to give the exact impression to some people who were driven to the "Stage" Club just by curiosity.The delicate esoteric, gentle satisfaction of "The beautiful silence" raised a nostalgic warmth and spread the right carpet for the dim optimism of "Under the stars".Old weird times grew furiously as "Gone...like the swallows" led Simon's voice to the familiar ending crescendo.The attractive chorus of "Dialogue" seemed to last just for one breath as "Vincent Crane" along with "He walked through the dew" drove the five silhouettes in suspiciously distant movements."Mary of the woods" echoed definite with its eerie final promise and the ghost of "...Lucy" troubled the spirits as it always should...Turning back to the virus period once more, "Maps in her wrists and arms" poisoned the smoky air:the older fellows started whistling and screaming to old loves never forgotten.The conception of "The untangled man", consistent and forever hunting, brought the obsessive footprints for Simon's painful dance, slowly growing into an impressive highlight.A trilogy of "The rag and bone man" was meant to complete the basic part of the setlist.Coat over his head-suspicious eyes-sly drumming steps-the storyteller unhappily is the protagonist in "The legend of Mucklow" and the tension seems to sink his strength till "The man with the drum" offers a sweet relief."Rive Droite" walks up a hill of visions and impressions, the faces look exhausted and Paul's drumming seals the edge of the night.They disappear for a while and came back on stage with the heat of "Scarlet arch" counting an ancient time of a personal fever.When the first moments of "Virus meadow" slipped between the heads around the room ,it was certain that something huge and important was floating around:some people just called it precious past.And it was not enough for anyone as the five silhouettes stepped out of the stage:the last card on the table of a starless night was the everlasting flaming circle of "The slow pulse boy" always chasing the redemption...from horizon to horizon.Staring at the empty stage while faithful figures grab the setlist pages, you take a piece in your heart shaking with echoes and visions ,memories and impressions lasting with persistence against the pale,predictable daily reality.While you keep returning back to it, a sanctuary for a world gently valuable, you can't stop thinking about music business being so unfair to them...
by George Georgiou (song292@yahoo.gr)
check THE band @ www.andalsothetrees.co.uk www.myspace.com/andalsothetrees
1.What were the main elements that gave TRABM album its direction and atmosphere?
shj- Working with a different bass player (Ian Jenkins) and the fact that he was playing a different instrument (the double bass), gave the music a very different feel right from the start, especially the parts that were bowed. The richness of that deep, wooden sound was new and exciting for us and it seemed to integrate with our style very well, without taking it off in a jazz or pseudo classical direction
Justin's guitar sound and style of play seemed very pure to me as well, pure in the sense that it was very much his style and sound rather than drawing influence from anywhere else. Most of my lyrical inspiration comes directly from the music, so these sounds are the equivalent of musical seeds.
In the end, I also think that the sound of the album was coloured by the locations we worked and recorded the music in a shed surrounded by mud, cockerels and stinging nettles, a disturbingly beautiful 11th century manor house and a victorian chapel in the east end of London, which makes it sound as though we set out to find interesting places to work but in actual fact it was chance that dealt us, this interesting hand. They were more or less the most convenient, affordable and.. Ok...interesting places we found to work in
2. AATT have been making music for almost 30 years now. Do you find it an increasing disappointing when the amount of CDs you sell the type of concerts you play aren't that different, or does this give you a feeling of having complete artistic freedom?
jj- I am not disappointed. Being a musician on our own terms is a privilege. We even deliberately play smaller concerts than we should sometimes, just to keep it interesting and intimate. For example, we played on a boat in Paris. It was small, very small and lots of people couldn’t get in. It was a different experience and that’s good in itself. By the time we walked onto the stage the boat was leaning heavily to one side so the trip across the stage was up hill. I think people remember these things
3. If you could turn back time and change one choice in your career, which one would it be?
jj– From a personal musician’s angle, I would have liked to have continued to have piano lessons and to have become a better musician. It would have helped in becoming a soundtrack composer for film, which is what I always wanted to be.
shj- I don't recall having that many choices. Things just happened, or didn't. Maybe when all those major record companies were begging us to sign with them, we should have given one of them a chance? but maybe not.
4. How strong is the influence of the place you were born and grew up in the music and the lyrics of AATT?
shj- It's strong. Our family lived in a big old farmhouse in the middle of the countryside, the kind of place that young, creative people leave as soon as they can. But, for one reason or another, we stayed, and discovered that if we were open to it there was quite a lot out there to draw inspiration from. I could hear echoes of that land scape in Justin's guitar on TRABM, and I'm sure it still influences my lyrics. I dream of Worcestershire all the time, it's in our blood
5. After your special dark urban americanatrilogy trip, you have entered the 21st century with two albums racing a different direction. According to the way you work on songs and the facts that drive you, is there a prediction for your next step?
jj-This latent desire to write scores for films is always there, and I suspect that the next writing project will have a strong element of this. Perhaps exploring the boundaries of film music within the context of AATT. I like the idea of pushing this out further and saying “to hell with musical structure and form. Let’s go for a walk in these ideas, a very long walk”
6. If for one very serious reason you were obliged to leave, having only one of your albums in your suitcase, which one would it be and what for?
jj– If you mean an album from my collection at home, I would probably say Rain Dogs by Tom Waits. A good balance of emotions and mental imagery, and I have a sentimental attachment to it.
shj-If you mean which AATT album, I'd say '(Listen for) the rag and bone man'. I'm very pleased with it and I like the range of emotions it provokes within me. If you meant 'any' album, it would either be Bowie's 'Hunky dory' because I loved this since I was fifteen and still do, so probably always will or Vaughn Williams' 'Sea symphony' because it's a journey I can make again and again.
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