Colour Presents: Live Music This Saturday

Saturday 2nd August

Bavarian Country Singers & Comrades //
Mountain Schmountain
+Colour DJs
8PM - Late // FREE Entry

Lock Works Café Bar, Light House

Fryer Street, Wolverhampton // 01902 716055 // google map

Hopefully we will be blessed with a beautiful summer sunset for this Saturday’s Colour event at Light House, although the covered courtyard in the historic Chubb Buildings is stunning even when the skies are at their bleakest. Entry is free and once again, Katie will be baking some delicious cakes.

We hope to see you there!

About the Artists

Bavarian Country Singers & Comrades

This Birmingham based boy-girl duo make endearing indie pop, resplendent with harmonies and jangly ’60s guitars, as well as the odd flourish of American and Eastern European folk.

Stream: MySpace

Mountain Schmountain

Lead singer of now defunct post-rock outfit Dragonflies Draw Flame reveals his new guise as an acoustic troubadour singing nostalgia-tinged folk.

Stream: MySpace

Colour DJs
We play an eclectic mix of leftfield indie, electronica, folk, Americana and everything that falls between.

Radio Cure

I don’t listen to the radio all that often, but on Monday night I caught some absolute gems on 6Music. I’ve been too busy to actively hunt out new music this past week so it was nice to let someone else do the work for me. Rob Hughes sat in for Marc Riley on BBC 6Music on Monday night and he played ‘Stranded Pearl’, a beautifully dusty duet from Howe Gelb and desert chanteuse of the moment Isobel Campbell, which is from the forthcoming Giant Sand record, proVISIONS (out in the UK 1st September on Yep Roc). Two other tracks are available to stream at the label page and all in, they promise an excellent return from Giant Sand.

Giant Sand

Stream: Without a Word (featuring Neko Case)
Stream: Increment of Love

He also played Kelley Stoltz’s ‘The Sun Comes Through’, which immediately had me turning up the dial. Ostensibly a piano ballad with a woozy 1970s stomp to it, it’s given weight with layers of lo-fi fuzz. A perfect accompaniment to the storm outside my window. It’s my first contact with the San Francisco artist but I’ll be sure to pick up the record from which it’s taken, 2006’s Below the Branches.

MP3: Kelley Stoltz - The Sun Comes Through (via Sub Pop)

Later in the evening I caught the latest by Minotaur Shock on Gideon Coe’s show. It’s six minutes of electronic bliss, starting out with a glitchy beat which gives way to low-tech keyboards and mournful string samples. It’s sure to appeal to anyone who rates Four Tet’s classics Pause and Rounds.

MP3: Minotaur Shock - My Burr (via 4AD)

The new Minotaur Shock record, Amateur Dramatics is out on 11th August, via download.

Chemical Dreams and Nightmares

I have been meaning to post about this for a week but i have been hiding under my bed in fear. Last Friday night i was just nodding off on the sofa with one eye on the idiot box when this wakes me up like a slap in the face:

UPDATE: ‘This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by EMI Music.’

Damn and blast. It seems to be that someone has wiped it from the whole internet. I might just have bought that album too, not now though, ahh, see EMI, see what you do when you make the internet angry.

It is the kind of music video which will make you point and laugh, but secretly you want to hide behind the sofa like a 6 year old. Maybe that’s just me being a scaredy pants. It’s the new Chemical Brothers video for Midnight Madness, directed by Dom and Nic who also directed the rather brilliant and equally menacing Believe Video for the Chemical Brothers. It has some of the most convincing CGI work i have seen mixed with a very modern British backdrop which I think gives it that creepy feel.

For me, the best Chemical Brothers video (if not my favorite ever video) has to be Let Forever Be by Michel Gondry. It is the cleverest piece of visual trickery i have ever seen, and i have seen it so many times but still can’t get my head around it.

..and making of….

Maybe I should point out that I don”t actually own any Chemical Brothers albums, shocker. I couldn’t see that I would get much pleasure from listening to them without the visual elements. I much prefer the whole package!

I will try to get round to writing something of substance this week which isn’t, basically a list of YouTube vids.

Open and Shut Cases

We’ve just got tickets for the Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks appearance at Birmingham’s Glee Club, which seemed like a good excuse to post some B-sides from various singles.

Stephen Malkmus Mojo Interview, Green Man 2007

I saw them headline at Green Man last year and they put on a great show, mostly drawn from this year’s Real Emotional Trash. The dynamics of the band made for a pretty amazing spectacle but it will be a treat to hear those songs now I’m more familiar with them, particularly in such an intimate venue.

Leisurely Poison

from Discretion Grove

Polish Mule

from Jo Jo’s Jacket

Open and Shut Cases

from Jo Jo’s Jacket

Wow-Ass Jeans

from Baby C’Mon

If Malkmus castoffs are your thing, the Matador/Domino reissues of the first three Pavement albums collect together a plethora of b-sides, demos and live tracks. Here’s hoping the Brighten the Corners edition drops soon; it was the album that started my obsession.

2008 So Far Part II: The Muxtape

You may have read our list of our favourites from 2008 so far last week. As promised, James and I have put together a selection of tracks from a few of those releases on a Muxtape. If you don’t already know, Muxtape is a great tool that enables you to create a twelve track mix that can be streamed by anyone using an incredibly simple interface. In an ideal world the record companies would see the massive potential of such a tool because sharing and networking is so natural to today’s listeners.

Anyway, enough waffle. On to the mix:

2008 so far muxtape

no age // eraser
subtle // unlikely rock shock
why? // good friday [demo]
destroyer // dark leaves from a thread
someone still loves you boris yeltsin // think I wanna die
the chap // fun and interesting
silver jews // strange victory, strange defeat
high places // sandy feat [7" version]
lykke li // I’m good, I’m gone
peter broderick // moment
beach house // wedding bell
bon iver // skinny love

Falling Down on You

Right now it seems like a good time to assess Beck’s career.  Modern Guilt, his tenth  proper album, came out last week, while Odelay was reissued back in March.  This solidified its position as one of the defining albums of the 1990s and the benchmark by which all of his future releases would be judged. Beck reacted to its acclaim with some wild genre-hopping - from the relatively straightforward psychedelic folk-blues of Mutations to the retro-futuristic funk parodies of Midnite Vultures to the atmospheric melancholy of Sea Change.

Guero and The Information were stylistic melting pots of his back catalogue, like looking through the dusty, cracked glass of Sea Change at the kaleidoscope of his earlier work. But because he hadn’t shed his skin to reveal a new stylistic level, the reaction was from critics and fans was lukewarm. Sure, there weren’t the whiplash-inducing sharp turns and moments of jaw-dropping strangeness like on Odelay or Mellow Gold, but they delivered some great hip shaking moments (’Black Tambourine’, ‘We Dance Alone’, ‘Think I’m In Love’) and some broody electronica (’Farewell Ride’, ‘Heaven Hammer’, New Round’).

The deluxe editions of both albums, stuffed to the seams with bonus cuts, the Guerolito remix album and custom artwork gimmick of The Information felt like smoke and mirrors, perhaps the sign of an artist lacking confidence in his songs. The presentation of his latest, Modern Guilt, is much more focused and assured, with a running time of just over thirty minutes, simple artwork and lyrics right there in black and white for the first time since Sea Change.

Gamma Ray

However, Beck’s lyrics are still filled with paranoia and anxiety. The first lyric of opener ‘Orphans’ is “think I’m stranded but I don’t know where / got this diamond that don’t know how to shine”, suggesting that Beck’s self-belief is flailing. Album closer ‘Volcano’ reinforces the perspective of a man psychologically at odds with the world with lines like “I don’t know if I’m sane” and “I’m tired of people who only want to be pleased”. It’s hard see a reference to the  mixed reception to his recent output in these lines.

The collaboration with Danger Mouse has been incredibly fruitful: the album works as a coherent whole thanks to a consistency of tone and atmosphere and there’s a great deal of warmth in its analogue-dominated sound, which often recalls 1960s British Invasion and psych-folk. It’s a rewarding sound that can be peeled away with repeated listens.

Modern Guilt Promo

One of the albums musical triumphs is ‘Walls’, which opens with a an off-kilter breakbeat conflicting with strings, heightening the lyrical tension. ‘Replica’ and ‘Chemtrails’ see Beck step back into the mix, becoming as much an instrument as a vocalist, while ‘Gamma Ray’ and fuzzed-out rocker ‘Profanity Prayers’ show that  Beck is still a master of catchy pop. Like Odelay and Sea Change, its feels like a true collaboration between Beck and a producer, with a strong identity of its own.

Those expecting Beck to do a complete, stylistic U-turn may well be disappointed with ‘Modern Guilt’, but for me it only reinforces his genius.

Colour Launch at Lock Works Photos

We have finally got around to sorting the photos out from the 5th July event. Thanks to all who came, listened and played.

Super Furry Gruff Roundup

Have been listening to a LOT of Gruff Rhys over the last few weeks. He and the Super Furry Animals have always had brilliant videos for their tracks so here is a roundup of my favourites:

‘God! Show Me Magic’ from Fuzzy Logic (1996):

An interview with ‘young adult television’ hero Toby Anstis on The O Zone, about Ice Hockey Hair EP (1998):

‘Rings Around the World’ from Rings Around the World (2001):

‘Candy Lion’ (Gruff Rhys), From Candy Lion (2006):

‘I Lust You’ From Neon Neon’s Stainless Style (2008):

I have seen SFA play a few times, and i was very excited when going to the Green Man Festival last year that Gruff was playing on the Sunday. 100 tonnes of mud and too much gin later i managed to sleep through not only his set but the whole Sunday of the festival. I wont be making the same mistake at End of the Road Festival this year, i’m telling myself.

Cherry Go Round

Thanks to everyone who made it through the rain last Saturday to the launch of Colour at Lock Works. We will be putting all the photos up soon. For now I thought I would wet your appetite with a cheeky little cake recipe. Those lucky few who attend the live events will know that I make homemade cakes to give away on the night. I am rubbish with the technical side of putting on Colour, so I earn my keep by feeding the crowd.

Here is the recipe for the Cherry Cup Cakes from Saturday (makes 10, or 5 big ‘uns).

Ingredients

100grms Butter (marg will do it)
100grms Sugar
2 Eggs
150grms Self raising flour
1tsp Baking powder
Glacier Cherries

Butter Icing
50grms Butter
100grms Icing Sugar
2tsp Hot water.

Pop the oven on at 190 c. Stir together the sugar and butter together in a big bowl with a wooden spoon, keep stirring till the mixture is light and fluffy. Fold in the eggs, and mix together. Sieve the flour and baking powder into the mixture and stir together, if the mixture is feeling a bit stiff add a bit of milk.

Spoon into cake cases and put into the middle of the oven. They should take about 5 mins to cook, 8 mins for big cup cakes. Give one a poke; it should feel spongy but firm and golden brown when it’s ready.

Leave them on a cooking rack (I use the rack from the grill pan, sans bacon bits) and make your butter icing. Butter icing: Mix together the butter and icing sugar, add the hot water. Plop some on top of your cakes and add half a glacier cherry.

2008 So Far

2008 has been a great year for music thus far, with a nice mix of new releases from old favourites and emerging artists. Here is a by-no-means comprehensive list of Colour favourites.

Beach House - Devotion

Utterly sublime sophomore record from Portland two-piece, Beach House. At once mournful and bright, this album sounds so unique even with such an economy of means. Victoria Legrand’s croon haunts in the true sense of the word, you can’t get it out of your mind. James

Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Much has been made of the background story to Justin Vernon’s debut - man severs ties with his girlfriend and band and spends four months living in a log cabin in Wisconsin. However, the emotion behind the haunting, ethereal folk of For Emma, Forever Ago seems to run much deeper. An essential headphones listen to fully appreciate its creepy background atmospherics. Matt

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy - Lay Down in the Light

Gone are the sweeping strings of 2006s The Letting Go, on a record of pretty straightforward country that sees the ever-consistent Will Oldham sounding positively cheerful as he (mostly) extols the joys of love, friendship and family. M

The Chap - Mega Breakfast

‘Fun and Interesting’ is the title of the standout track on The Chap’s second album and it pretty much does what it says on the tin. Flirtations in electronic experimental indie, three times as witty as the last Hot Chip album thought it was, and a much better listen. J

Destroyer - Trouble in Dreams

Dan Bejar’s ticks and quirks are all firmly in place for this, another fantastic set of anthemic and complex indie arrangements. Excellent. J

Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes / Sun Giant EP

Rustic spiritualism for those sun-blissed summer evenings, laden with stunning harmonies and some great ‘70s inspired folk. They far surpass the ‘early My Morning Jacket’ comparisons leveled at them. M

Read Katie’s Fleet Foxes post here.

Lykke Li - Youth Novels

Aside from surely being a staple in the stable of slightly weird indie crushes, Lykke Li’s album is old news in her native Sweden, (thankfully finally being released here this year) and is a fantastic and inventive record of fully realised pop. J

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks - Real Emotional Trash

His finest solo effort to date, Real Emotional Trash is a set of elasticised jams that frequently slacken before being pulled back together by the tight rhythm section of drummer Janet Weiss and bassist Joanna Bolme. ‘Gardenia’ provides the mandatory three minute pop wonder. M

Neon Neon - Stainless Style

This collaboration between the Super Furry’s Gruff Rhys and Boom Bip based on the life of mad inventor John Delorean, is a shamelessly revisionist paean to Eighties excess. It’s also the most fun record of 2008 so far. M

No Age - Nouns

This record kicks arse so hard, it commits buggery. The No Age twosome refine the blueprint set out on last years Weirdo Rippers collection, of psychedelic distorted soundscapes breaking into smashing, rousing punk. (This also features the finest album artwork I’ve seen for a while.) J

Silver Jews - Lookout Mountain, Lookout Sea

David Berman is still a master of catchy, countrified indie and his turn of phrase is as sharp as ever on the Jews’ seventh release. After weathering depression and addiction, he revisits his weaknesses with gravity and wit. M

Read Matt’s Silver Jews post here.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin - Pershing

This band make music that’s like crack for seasoned indie pop fans, filled as it is with ultra-catchy melodies, harmonies and cowbells. Who needs Weezer? M

Son Lux - At War with Walls and Mazes

An Anticon release that pushes my buttons in every department. New York native Ryan Lott’s album is all fine piano driven verses helmed by sparkling beats and production ideas, with handsome, complimentary arrangements. J

Subtle - Exiting Arm

The Oakland six-piece fuse the organic with the technological to create something truly otherworldly, foreboding and nightmarish - in a strangely melodic way. M

Read Matt’s Subtle post here.

Why? - Alopecia

A darker take on the upbeat indie hip-hop of 2005’s Elephant Eyelash, Alopecia features lyrics exploring the embarrassment of youth and the betrayal of relationships, often matched by gloomy, foreboding keyboards and harsh percussion. M

Read Matt’s Why? post here.

Also Recommended:

Peter Broderick - Docile Thirty minutes of exquisite solo piano pieces from this young serial collaborator. After listening to this very lovely album, be sure to check the fuller, orchestral record ‘Float’ and the recent Library Tapes EP on which Broderick features. Super. J

The National - The Virginia EP Odds-and-ends compilation from one of the most consistently amazing rock bands around right now. M

Growing - Lateral A sea of gorgeously arranged guitar distortion loops that should in no way sound as good as this actually does. J

Hayden - In Field & Town Weary wilderness folk from the Canadian singer-songwriter. M

High Places - 03/07-09/07 The kind of plodding ghostly noisescapes favoured by bands like Black Dice or Gang Gang Dance are given shape and warmth by vocalist Mary Pearson’s pretty The Blow-esque melodies. J

Malcolm Middleton - Sleight of Heart Great mini-album follow-up to A Brigher Beat from the ex-Arab Strap miserablist. M

Ponytail - Ice Cream Spiritual Amazingly good, lengthy ADD noise rock workouts from Brooklyn five piece. J

She & Him - Volume One Slick country-pop ballads from M. Ward and Zooey Dechanel. M

Sun Kil Moon - April Spooky, atmospheric but occasionally dull Americana from Mark Kozelek. M

Wolf Parade - At Mount Zoomer It’s Wolf Parade. It’s flipping awesome. J

There is still loads of great stuff to come this year, most of which we probably haven’t even heard of yet (Check out Pitchfork’s guide to what’s to come this Summer for starters). There are also a good few records from January to June that we’ve been meaning to check out but haven’t got round to yet.

Part 2: The Muxtape