Music Blog

All the music-related posts gathered together in one place.

Morphus Rising and Also Eden in York

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Tim Hall

York old-school twin-guitar metal revivalists Morphus Rising will be playing the Duchess in York on Friday, March 15th. They’re always an entertaining live band, and this gig has the added bonus of the excellent “Neo prog my arse” of Also Eden as support. Should be a great night, since both bands are well worth travelling to see.

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You can tell you’re a Panic Room fan if whenever one of the band wanders off into the crowd mid-set and keeps playing (As happened with Blue Coupe last night) you describe it as “Doing a Yatim”. First time I’ve seen a drummer do that, though…

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

Mostly Autumn – Live at the Boerderij

Posted on January 31, 2013 by Tim Hall

As announced on the Mostly Autumn website:

We’re delighted to announce that the DVD recorded at the Boerderij NL last September is ready for pressing.

For 2 weeks only we are offering a pre order package consisting of the the Live at the Boerderij double DVD signed by Olivia and Bryan and the double audio CD at half price – a total of £27.50 (+ P & P).

Get it here!

After 2 weeks the DVD will be on sale at £20 (+ P & P) and the CD at £15 (+ P & P).

Delivery is expected in around 3 weeks.

I was at the show at the Boerderij last September where the DVD was recorded, it was a fantastic night, and the from the promo, the DVD seems to have captured it well. This is a band who have completely reinvented themselves over the past couple of years, and Olivia Sparnenn has found her voice since taking over as lead singer in 2010.

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Fish on the economics of touring

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Tim Hall

Fish has written a very interesting blog post on the economics of touring with a band playing the rock club circuit at his level. There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about the cost of live music, how much gigs cost to put on, and exactly where the money goes. (Not much of it to the poor support act, it seems, and people I know who have supported Fish in the past confirm this!). Are there really still people who multiply the ticket price by the number of warm bodies through the door and assume the whole lot goes to the artist?

It’s the sort of thing that causes endless discussions over what the “fair” price of a ticket ought to be. I’ve lost count of the number of gigs I’ve been to that can’t possibly have covered the overheads, especially when charging prices far lower than I’d spent travelling to the gig. One memorable one was was Breathing Space and Mermaid Kiss in a working mens’ club in Mansfield five years ago. A total of twelve musicians, only three quid on the door, and there were just 60-odd people in the audience. It was, I remember, an absolutely stunning and very moving gig, but it was clear nobody there was doing it for the money – because there wasn’t any.

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When bands end rather messily, as frequently happens, why do they always “implode”?

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Tim Hall | Comments Off

The Mars Volta Split

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Tim Hall

The Mars Volta have imploded, live on Twitter, with singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala letting loose a stream of angry tweets telling of his frustration with guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez work with his new project Bosnian Rainbows at the expense of a Mars Volta tour.

The Mars Volta are a band who have done as much as anyone to put progressive rock back on the map. They were favourably reviewed in places like Pitchfork, but they were no style-over-substance act loved only by hipsters; when it came to progressive music, they were the real deal. It’s probably true that their later albums lacked the manic intensity of their early work; their incendiary début “Deloused in the Comatarium” is a record that ought to be in every prog fan’s record collection, and is one of the defining albums of the decade. Combining the complexity and virtuosity of progressive rock with the visceral energy of punk, there was nobody else quite like them. They did indeed sound exactly what a band called The Mars Volta ought to sound like.

I will never forget the one time I saw them live, at Manchester Apollo back in 2006. Eight people on stage, and the entire set, just short of three hours, was a single continuous jam. No support, no interval, and played right through to the curfew, all one seamless piece of music, with an incredible energy and intensity. I remember chatting about it in the pub before a Dream Theater gig a few months later at the same venue, and someone said he wasn’t sure if that was the greatest gig of his life, or whether they were completely taking the piss.

That’s as good as description as any.

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When Empires Fall

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Tim Hall

When Empires Fall is the new project from Paul Teasdale, formerly of Breathing Space and Stolen Earth. They describe themselves as “nu-progressive” and something that ought to appeal to lovers of classic rock.

No word (yet) of the full lineup of the band, but their facebook page (they don’t have a website yet) states that they’re due to release the self-titled debut album in the Spring 2013, with their first download single in February.

Give the promo (above) a listen, and see what you think. It’s an instrumental version of the track “Trial of Theseus” which will be on the album.

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JLS Britain’s hardest-working band? Churnalism at it’s worst

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tim Hall

The story that boy-band JLS have been named “Hardest Working Band” by the Performing Rights Society is making just about every music fan and musician in my circle of friends throw up the hands in despair.

To call an act who have played 34 gigs in 2012 the “Hardest working band” is surely an insult to actual real hard-working musicians, the sort of people who slog round the clubs and theatres and form the backbone of real music in this country. As a friend on Twitter has pointed out, John Otway plays 200 gigs a year at the age of 60. The whole thing smacks of “biggest moneyspinner for PRS” rather than a reflection of any actual amount of work.

The way this non-story is all over the media is a textbook example of so-called “churnalism”, the process by which vapid PR guff is translated into column inches without any actual journalism having taken place. It’s risible nonsense to anyone whose knowledge of music goes beyond what’s available on the shelves of ASDA, and doesn’t exactly do much for PRS’s credibility, let along the media outlets that unquestioningly repeated the story.

Shame on everyone who had any part in this charade.

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English Electric (Part Two) on Pre-order!

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tim Hall

Big Big Train announce the pre-order for English Electric (Part Two), the follow-up to the highly acclaimed English Electric Part One.

Big Big Train continues its journey across the English landscape with an album of seven new songs which tell further tales of the men and women who work on and under the land. Along the way, stories are told of the shipbuilders in Neptune’s Yard, of a machine that burned its legend across the pages of the history books, of a keeper of abbeys and a curator of butterflies, and of a second chance at love.

Part One was one of my top five albums of 2012, and I have every expectation that the second part will be every bit as good. Whatever the fate of high street music chains, there’s nothing quite like supporting real music by real musicians by buying direct from the artist.

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Adam Dawson leaves Stolen Earth

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tim Hall

Stolen Earth at the 2012 Cambridge Rock Festival

It’s always this time of year we get announcements like this…

Hi,

I’m writing this update to tell you that I’ve made the difficult decision to take a step back from Stolen Earth. I feel that with work and family commitments, I can no longer give the band the attention it deserves. However, I’ve had some truly wonderful times and memories over the past 3 years which I will take with me and never forget.

Joining Breathing Space back in 2010 was an incredible experience which led to one of my proudest musical moments; the release of ‘A Far Cry From Home’ last year with Stolen Earth. But meeting so many great people on the way has been equally amazing. To get to know such generous and loyal supporters of original music has been a humbling experience and one which gives me a lot of optimism for the future. This certainly won’t be the end; not for Stolen Earth or for me – I’m hoping to use the ‘down-time’ to work on the many ideas that are floating around my head for new songs and so I’m sure this won’t be the last you’ll hear from me!

I’d like to wish Barry, Chris, Heidi and John all the very best for the future, and I’m sure I’ll see many of you at some gig or other very soon!

Best wishes,

Adam Dawson

Adam’s distinctively atmospheric guitar playing was an important ingredient of Stolen Earth’s sound, and he made a big contribution to the songwriting on the band’s superb début album “A Far Cry From Home”. He’ll be a hard act to follow.

The band added their statement:

He has been a real asset to the band and will be greatly missed, we wish him every success for the future. Of course we will continue and have started work on our second album. We look forward to seeing you all later in the year.

Heidi, Barry, Chris and John x

It’s never easy for bands at this level juggling their musical actities around work and family responsibilities, and in some ways it’s remarkable that some bands can keep stable lineups together as long as they do.

As a fan I naturally hope Stolen Earth bounce back stronger than ever with a new lineup, and wish Adam all the best in whatever musical projects he does next.

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