More musical variety

A special solo trip to the Norwegian Church arts centre on 9th March to see Icelandic band hjaltalín together with support from Dry The River. I heard about the show via email lists from the people behind Swn (join the list/Facebook group if you haven't already). Partly from lack of time, I treated the evening as a 'random gig number 3' so wasn't sure what to expect! Turns out it was an excellent evening (shades of last year's Woodpigeon gig) & pretty much a capacity crowd. A note for cake lovers -the cafe/bar at the Church was still selling foodie bits along with drinks, had a hard time resisting!

Dry The River were very good. I don't know much about their background (plenty of scope online as they have both a website and myspace), but their set (all new stuff - believe the debut album is currently being recorded) seemed to me to show shades of William Elliott Whitmore, Jeff Buckley; lo fi indie ish with a bit of modern folk thrown in. Very interesting, well received. Their EP 'the chambers and the valves' was on sale and I think at least half of the audience bought it! Definitely worth looking out for them again.

The majority of gig-goers seemed very much to be hjaltalín fans, enthusiastic from the start. I'm not really sure how to describe hjaltalín's songs so I'll start with their myspace description -pop/lounge/showtunes/classsoul! The 7 piece band included a bassoon (played by the lovely Rebekka) and violinist Viktor, who spent a good part of the set playing his violin like a ukelele! Fantastic. As to the songs themselves (which were all sung in English), they were a mix of modern folk (again), bit funky, bit indie/rock, reminded me in part of Clare and the Reasons. Whilst they were thoroughly entertaining, with some excellent banter and stories from main singer Sigga, some tracks interested me a lot more than others. There seemed to be a lot of style shifting mid song which was sometimes disconcerting. New album (which they had a few copies for sale, didn't get it though), title unknown, is due in the UK in May (hopefully the lovely people at Spillers will advertise the release date). Maybe they're a band that require a few listens to truly appreciate.

The Philharmonia's visit to Cardiff on 27th Feb was also very good, and quite full. I think most attendees had been caught by pianist Nikolai Lugansky (there seemed to be more empty seats after the interval, anyway). The performance of Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No 2 was excellent, Lugansky made it look very easy. He played very coolly and economically, with fewer mannerisms than I've seen on others. I discovered on pre-concert listening to M's 1972 Decca recording with Vladimir Ashkenazy & the London Philharmonic, that the concerto was written after Rachmaninov had been in receipt of hypnosis and psychoanalysis! Maybe important, maybe not - we enjoyed it anyway. Of the other pieces, Verdi's 'Overture, la forza del destino' was short and fun but the Symphonic Dances weren't quite as entertaining.

Music, Poetry and Cake (Gateshead and Lanchester)

Piano at the ready! (by M) After a good few months prep, the concert Piano Music and Poetry (organised through the Gateshead Piano Workshop folks) came around pretty quickly. As one of the participants, I was excited and also a little nervous about the prospect of a Paying Audience. The work paid off, as all the performers were excellent! Well appreciated by the compact audience. The format was in relation to National Poetry Day which was on 2nd October. Each performer chose a poem either in direct or indirect relation to their piece. A summary of the programme: Alan - Liszt Consolation No 4 and Mozart Adagio in B minor Graeme - Chopin Nocturne Op. 62 No. 2 with 'Uncertainty' by Adam Mickiewicz me - Clara Schumann, andante con sentimento with 'Clara Wieck und Beethoven' by Franz Grillparzer Jim - R Schumann Kinderszenen 1 and 7 with 'My child, we were just children' by Heinrich Heine Ernie - Debussy Clair de lune with excerpt from 'Fêtes g...

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

From Black Rose to Buena Vista

Two very different but equally impressive live experiences this last weekend. First up, our long overdue homage to the late, great Phil Lynott as Limehouse Lizzy returned to the Point on Friday 2nd March. Certainly on form (and not just lead singer Wayne Ellis, mmmm!) After a late doors, the band came on for a 2 hour set. They started off with Jailbreak (with added pyro), the rest of the main set comprising known songs like Dancing In The Moonlight, Warrior, Emerald, Johnny the Fox, Are You Ready, Killer On The Loose, Cold Sweat, Do Anything You Want To, Out In The Fields, Cowboy Song, Rosalie, The Boys Are Back In Town plus at least 1 early track. The encore included 1 verse/1 chorus from Sarah, Black Rose, Whisky In The Jar and another track. Excellent atmosphere, the place was sold out. The boys are back at the Point in December. Next on to crowd pleasers of a very different sort. M and I managed to get tickets for the sold-out Buena Vista Social Club show at Wales Millennium Centr...

PrettyInScarlett

Search This Blog