LAST WEEK IN LONDON: From Soho Down to Brighton
- Posted on June 23, 2008 3:59 PM
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Last Week In London
By Peter Coulston
Hello and welcome once again to the indie music mouthpiece of London. There has been some great stuff going on in the capital this week, and I have managed to find my fair share of it. Some of Brighton’s great store of talent have ventured out of their clubs and studios, found the M23 and ended up in places like Soho and Putney. Some guys have come from even further afield; Canada, in fact, with the Canadian Blast reminding me that I am long overdue for a trip back to Toronto. In the meantime, it’s Tuesday night and I find myself once again a guest of Andy Lowe at the 12 Bar Club on Denmark Street. Another great line up awaited us, travelling from far and wide for our musical pleasure and indulgence. First came The Watson Twins from Los Angeles by way of Louisville, Kentucky, a couple of girls with great songs and harmonies to die for. There is something about siblings and harmonies, and I am not going to reel off the large number of great examples of this fact that we are all aware of, but it’s true. I remember being at a Bee Gees concert (don’t ask why) in Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto, which is not renowned for it’s acoustics (it’s an ice hockey stadium, for goodness sake) and experiencing the most perfect live harmonies that I had ever heard each time Maurice kicked in on the third part. So, no surprise that these girls turned out to be as good as Andy said they would be. Chandra and Leigh both play guitar and harmonica and easily swop the vocals around with no problem.
They opened with their single “How am I to be” from their current Vanguard album, “Fire Songs” and followed with more good stuff like the darker “Sky Open Up” and rocky “Bar Room Blues” Great laid back band to assist, and a very enjoyable show. Go to www.myspace.com/thewatsontwins and you will enjoy what you hear. Here comes the first Brighton connection, Charlot Webster and her versatile band performing acoustic/melodramatic pop. The songs are varied in style and span rock, pop and jug band with a bit of Sparks and a similarity to one of my current favourites on this circuit, Orlando Seale. Charlot and her band switch between keys, bass, ukulele, drums, guitar and chord organ with little effort and perform good, innovative material like “Mr Smith” and “Find Gold”, which does not easily fit into any particular category; which is precisely why I would love to see them again. If you are interested in something a bit different try www.myspace.com/charlotwebster. Grace Solero is a London based rock performer who takes her vocals to the limit, and it works. Backed by her own guitar, a bass player and a lead guitarist who does backing vocals, she gave a spirited performance of some great material. She excels on the emotional rockers like “Stay”, “Apartheid” and “Heal Me” and makes a pretty good job of the rest of her repertoire. An exhausting experience (she also tends to talk a lot between songs), but a satisfying one, full of quality material and passion. Hopefully, that all comes out on www.myspace.com/gracesolero.
It was good to visit the Half Moon in Putney on Wednesday as it always brings back happy and sad memories. Sad because many of the names that adorn the walls of that establishment are no longer with us and were friends of mine. We must move on, however, and it is great to know that this establishment is still providing a springboard for new talent, as it always did. There was some there on Wednesday, beginning with Rebecca Poole and the Gentry, a classy pop/nu jazz outfit that actually seemed to be too good to be an opening act. Rebecca is an excellent vocalist in the Julie London tradition with a great backing band for good measure. With a full and talented line up which included horn section, she followed one good song with another and gave a thoroughly professional performance that deserves bigger venues and better things. If you like classy music, check www.myspace.com/rebeccapoole. Some time ago, I reviewed an album by Nicola K that had been released by Swag Bag Records in Brighton and was a mix of rock and hip hop with some quite intricate production work which would be difficult to reproduce live, to say the least. Well, I needn’t have worried, as Nicola has followed her early instincts and is now a rock chick. Yes, with just a bassist, drummer and a Telecaster super hero, she gave us one brilliant set. Most of the material was new but she did cover “Obsession” and “Don’t Lecture Me” from the album and rocked my world with them. Her vocals are spirited and powerful and she has the moves and the stage craft to carry it off. Unfortunately, there is no new recorded material at the moment, but visit www.myspace.com/nicolaswagbag to find out where she is performing. Rock ‘n roll, Nicola. Oscar Musat is a singer of whom I know very little, which put me in a minority at this gig, as he was obviously well known to much of the audience and had the professionalism of a seasoned performer. His acoustic rock with a hint of country went down well due to his excellent vocals and his two guitar playing friends, one of whom did some fine backing vocals. The songs were all good and these guys are very much at home in a live setting, despite the fact that some of the songs were very new and barely rehearsed. I will be watching this guy, as you should, starting with www.myspace.com/musatoscar. We were back in rock mode to finish, with Natalie-Marie, a London based rock/pop performer and her three piece backing band. From the outset there was one major problem for me, her voice. Frankly, I just didn’t like it one bit. It was strong in the higher registers but much too shrill, while weak and lacking control in the lower. It didn’t help that they were doing heavy rock and power ballads without a drummer, or that the guitarist looked as if he wanted to be somewhere else. On a more positive note, the keyboard player and backing vocalist, Melissa Stansfield, looked as if she was enjoying herself and there were some good songs, notably “Sorry” and “Too Late”. The audience did not entirely agree with my opinion and demanded an encore, but I am afraid that it is not an experience that I am in any hurry to repeat. See what you think on www.myspace.com/nata1iemarie.
Thursday night saw me enthusiastically heading for The Borderline on Mannette Street off Charing Cross Road to soak up the Canada Blast, part of London Calling 08. I arrived early as there were six acts to see, which proved to be wise as Karen Young hit the stage at 7.45pm. This lady is a virtuoso jazz performer from Quebec who works with bassist and guitarist Eric Auclair as the ElectroBeatniks. They specialise in jazz fusion and are pretty handy with loop station as well as having a repertoire of brilliant material, lyrically as well as musically. To find out more, go to www.karenyoung.org. Moving much further west to middle Canada, things hotted up with Keith and Renee, an acoustic rock duo from Winnipeg, Manitoba who have worked with anyone who is anyone in Canada, and can certainly work an audience. Keith MacPherson and Renee Lamoureaux proved equally at home with rock and country with great material like “When You’re Gone” and “Good Year”, which they will be performing on New Years Eve next at Time Square. Nice people too, and they have an album, “Revolution”, which you can sample on www.myspace.com/keithandreneemusic. Moving east again to Toronto, Laura Barrett did some acoustic, minimalist stuff on her kalimba (a box that you play with your thumbs and sounds like a music box) with help from violin, banjo and glockenspiel. A mix of folk and jazz which included songs like “Deception Island Optimists Club”, it’s not everyone’s idea of fun; but I liked it a lot, and not just because she came from Toronto or that she was also very nice. Make a trip to www.myspace.com/laurabarrett and see what you think, I reckon you’ll love it. We moved east again next to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (PEI) to hear Two Hours Traffic, a powerpop band with good songs and a commercial sound. PEI, incidentally, is Canada’s smallest province and the home of a very good variety of potatoes; totally irrelevant but I thought I’d mention it. The boys in this four piece rock with the best of them, have good songs like “Stuck for the Summer” and “Jezebell” and look great. They have an album called “Little Jabs” and are on www.myspace.com/twohourstraffic. For the rest of the show, we return to Toronto, which I must also do soon if this is what’s going on there these days. Hunter Valentine are three girls who play uncompromisingly good rock with a punk attitude and image. The singer/guitarist is a bit Patti Smith only meaner, the drummer is a one girl demolition derby and the bass player holds it all together. Songs like “Staten Island Dream” are what rock is all about so don’t mess with these chicks, just go to www.myspace.com/huntervalentine now. Hanging right in there with those beer loving boys and girls from Toronto, the evening ended with “The Dunes”, an indie rock outfit full of good looking kids who do the business and control the stage. Believe me, if kids in the UK get to experience acts like this, our current crop of early sixties rehash bands had better watch it. With songs like “Let It Go”, this band are playing energetic, melodic rock that kids can relate to; it doesn’t take them for granted or insult their intelligence and it has staying power. Like all the acts on this bill, absolutely brilliant and a credit to their home country. So, what next. Well, there’s always next week, I’ll be there, how about you? Stay safe and well and see you soon.
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