Salford Harmonics

THE DURUTTI COLUMN - A PAEAN TO WILSON

I have mentioned The Durutti Column a few times in the past and it has occurred to me that some readers may only know them as a reference point I use when reviewing other artists and may not have heard their music first-hand. Although they are usually referred to as a band and there are a number of regular contributors, it is essentially the long-term project of Manchester guitarist Vini Reilly. The Durutti Column were one of the first acts to sign to Factory Records and this album is a tribute to the label's founder, Anthony H. Wilson, who died in 2007. Vini has released a constant stream of albums under the Durutti Column name and while I must admit that it is perhaps not essential to own all of them, "A Paean To Wilson" is his most consistent and rewarding record in almost 30 years.

The album opens with a looped sample of Tony Wilson's voice asking "Is this an art form?", which cultured listeners will no doubt compare to the sound collages of Steve Reich, but I was reminded of "Limb", the recent compilation of JG Thirwell's early experiments. Just as it starts to become annoying, the sample gives way to a gentle layer of reverb as Vini launches into his trademark guitar playing. As always, Vini's guitar is at the heart of each track, but each time it is backed by a second instrument, such as piano, viola or trumpet, as well as some electronic interventions. These additional elements give each track a different feel; one piece is quite trippy, like something that may have been played at The Haçienda during its early-'90s peak, and at one point there is something that almost sounds like an Irish jig. While this is not something you would at first expect on a Durutti Column record, it serves to highlight the range of Tony Wilson's tastes and the wide variety of bands that he brought to the fore through his record label and TV show.

As a final mark of respect, the album is mostly instrumental. Tony was always trying to discourage Vini from singing, and while I do enjoy some of the vocal pieces from his earlier works, it has to be said that he does have a weak voice, particularly when you compare it to his skill as a musician. There are some occasional female vocals here, which I think may be in a foreign language, and the only discernible lyrics have been lifted directly from Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On". It is probably apparent from some of my previous articles that when listening to a new album, I often concentrate on the lyrics to determine what the songs are about or what they mean to me. This is obviously not so easy with instrumental pieces and with a lot of Vini's work I find myself thinking about specific places or times that are conjured up by the sounds. In this case, the overall meaning of the album is apparent from the title and Vini's explanatory notes, and I was wondering if it would turn out to be quite morbid, with a focus on death. The Marvin Gaye line that is used repeatedly ("There's too many of you dying") certainly fits in with this, and Vini's playing can be mournful at times. However, the overall sound is joyous and rather than lamenting Tony's death, it suggests we should celebrate his life and everything he contributed to the music scene. The album left me feeling grateful not just to Tony Wilson, but to others who are sadly no longer around but have left a lasting impression on my music tastes, in particular John Peel and my father.

I was pleased to see that in a rare display of good taste from the BBC, The Durutti Column were invited to appear on "The Review Show" earlier this week. I'm sure the clip will appear on YouTube in the near future, but if you're quick then you can catch it on iPlayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qg7pp/The_Review_Show_29_01_2010/
If you don't want to watch the whole show then scroll to the end. At about 41 minutes in, you will find Vini and Poppy Morgan performing the album's centrepiece, "Duet With Piano". It's a shame that it's cut short after just two minutes, but this brief clip should be enough to convince you that Vini is one of the best guitarists this country has produced. For anyone inspired to check out the work of The Durutti Column, "A Paean To Wilson" is a good place to start. To those already familiar with Vini's work, this is an essential addition to his back catalogue and something I can even imagine being played at my own funeral.

The Guitar And Other Machines

PORTAL - HOME RECORDING IS KILLING MUSIC

Scott Sinfield, co-founder of the label Make Mine Music, has been recording under the name Portal since 1996. He has now decided to abandon that name, partly because of the associations that go with it. As he put it himself recently, it does have certain "Dungeons and Dragons" connotations. There are also a number of other acts using the same name. Whenever I search for Portal's music on sites such as Last.fm or Spotify, I am presented with a death metal band wearing scary masks. So it would certainly be less confusing if he started to use a different name.

To mark the end of Portal, Scott has put together "Home Recording Is Killing Music", a compilation that includes almost everything that he released under that name. He claims that it contains exactly 100 tracks, although I have only counted 94. It may be that I've miscounted as my brain is probably not functioning correctly after a week of excessive gig-going, or perhaps Scott is counting the extended piece "Music For Broadcast" as several tracks, even though it is packaged as a single MP3. But let's not quibble about the precise number of songs, the important thing here is that Scott has very kindly offered to give away the whole lot completely free of charge. He wants as many people as possible to download and share these tracks without feeling guilty. They can be downloaded from a blog, which also contains notes on the history of each song:
portal-archive.blogspot.com

Within the blog, the tracks are sorted into a number of separate pages, representing the original Portal album and EP releases. If you don't have the time or inclination to listen to the entire archive, you can just download the tracks from an individual Portal album.

Portal's music has encompassed several different styles over the last 13 years, but it is often referred to by the general category of "dreampop". Some releases have more electronic elements than others, but the constant factor is Scott's very precise musicianship. If I had to compare Portal to one act, it would probably be The Durutti Column. I can't say for certain if this is a conscious influence on Scott's playing, but I would guess that it is and that he would be flattered by the comparison. An early Portal track, "Celebration", has the subtitle "Vini" and I am assuming that this is a reference to Vini Reilly. Another more obscure reference point that I sometimes spot in Portal's music is the Nuneaton duo, Eyeless In Gaza.

For anyone who is feeling slightly overwhelmed by the huge amount of music available in this archive, I would recommend the album "Reprise" as a good place to start. This was Scott's first collaboration with vocalist Rachel Hughes, and the combination of her voice with the luscious textures suggests something that would have been released on 4AD. I'm listening to this now as I type this article and the sound perfectly complements the snowy landscape I can see from my window.

"Prehistory" is also worth checking out. As the title suggests, it contains some of the earliest Portal recordings. Many of these are fairly simple in their structure, and less reliant on technology than some of the later tracks. The cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound", again featuring Rachel on vocals, is simply stunning.

By way of contrast, the final release, the "Options" EP, is Scott's attempt at a classic synthpop sound. It could easily be a New Order release from the mid-80s, and is one of my favourite singles from the past year. It features guest vocals from Glen Johnson, a name that should be familiar to regular readers of these pages.

These are just a few of my choices from Portal's back catalogue; I would recommend anyone with a bit of time to kill over the Christmas break to download as much of the archive as you can, and also please pass on the link to anyone who might not have read this post. Although Portal is no more, Scott has promised to return in the new year under a different name. I'm not sure whether this new music will continue in the same vein as "Options", or if we will be treated to something entirely different. But whatever Scott has in mind for this new project, I'm sure it will be worth the wait.

This Is What You Want, This Is What You Get

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD - Birmingham 02 Academy

As is usually the case in the run-up to Christmas, I find myself with more gigs than it is humanly possible to attend. What looks like turning into an exhausting week kicks off at the newly-opened Academy with the return, after a 17-year absence, of Public Image Ltd. I am expecting to be disappointed, for a number of reasons. The show marks the 30th anniversary of the band's classic second album, "Metal Box", but John Lydon is the only one present who played on that release. Original guitarist Keith Levene is nowhere to be seen and, more worryingly, Jah Wobble, whose basslines defined the band's early sound, has not been invited back, having fallen out with Lydon in the early 1980s. I am uncertain whether Lydon will be able to carry off the "Metal Box" tracks without these key players.

I am also concerned about how Lydon himself is going to behave, and whether he is going to make a mockery of PiL's reputation. In recent years, he has become something of a cartoon character, with appearances on "I'm a Celebrity..." and butter adverts, and many people still think of him as Johnny Rotten. I've always thought it a shame that he is remembered for the Sex Pistols, who were really just a short-lived novelty act, when PiL produced much more enduring material. Lydon seems to feel this way too, as he often talks of PiL as his first love. During the early years of the band, a lot of his lyrics (and not just the ones that were a blatant attack on Malcolm McLaren) seemed to express a desire for independence and to prove that he did not need anyone to run the band for him.

Despite this disproportionate media focus on his time with the Sex Pistols, PiL have become the latest name to drop amongst trendy, NME-approved newcomers, who I suspect have never actually listened to "Metal Box". Lydon makes reference to this before tonight's show has even started. He apologises for being "the band that taught all those fucking second-rate wankers how to play" before storming into the only song that could possibly open the set, the 1978 debut single, "Public Image". This is the most straightforward punk song that PiL ever recorded and is perhaps the closest they ever got to the sound of the Pistols, but it is still light years ahead of anything on "Never Mind The Bollocks". After that, the pace is slower, giving new bassist Scott Firth a chance to prove that he can handle the dub-inflected lines from the "Metal Box" songs almost as well as Jah Wobble. Lydon tells us that each one of the songs means something, and this is apparent from the emotion that he puts into the delivery. "Death Disco", a song about watching his mother die from cancer, sounds even more distorted than usual, while "Albatross" actually seems slightly more funk-influenced and maybe not quite as unlistenable as it did when it opened "Metal Box". I've always thought that this song referred to casting off the chains of the Sex Pistols, and perhaps celebrity in general. It is clear tonight that after 30 years, Lydon has still not managed to get rid of his own personal albatross, whatever that may be. Between songs, he is chatty and almost camp at times, joking with the crowd and sarcastically scolding us for cheering "Poptones", a song about being raped and dumped in a forest to die. The songs themselves are often very dark and Lydon's delivery of them seems to conflict with his otherwise jovial nature. It's not clear whether there are two contrasting sides to his character. I am inclined to think that the schoolboy prankster is just a mask he still feels compelled to use after 30 years, and only in his songs is the true, cynical John Lydon allowed to come to the fore.

The darkest moments come during the three songs from "Flowers of Romance", PiL's least-accessible album, consisting of just percussion and Lydon's wailing voice. I've always enjoyed this album but been wary of recommending it to anyone else, so I am heartened when a friend who has only just got the hang of "Metal Box" suggests that he might try "Flowers of Romance" next, on the strength of the live songs. We are also treated to a handful of songs from the tail-end of PiL's career, but it seems that Lydon realises that these are never going to stand up to comparisons with the early material, if the bias in the setlist towards the first few albums is anything to go by. More surprisingly, the set also includes two songs from Lydon's solo album (has anyone actually listened to that?) and as a final encore, we get "Open Up", his 1990s collaboration with Leftfield, making use of the laptops dotted around the stage. Despite this song being very different musically from the rest of the material, it highlights how Lydon's distinctive voice can be put to good use in different surroundings.

The full setlist, for those of you concerned with such trivia, went something like this, although probably not exactly in this order:
Public Image / Careering / This Is Not A Love Song / Poptones / Tie Me To The Length Of That / Albatross / The Suit / Death Disco / Four Enclosed Walls / Flowers Of Romance / Disappointed / Warrior / USLS 1 / Psychopath / Banging The Door / Bags / Chant / Memories / Annalisa / Religion
Encore: Sun / Rise / Open Up










I have to admit that I am often guilty of deciding in advance what my opinion of a gig will be. With PiL, I even had the basis of a review in mind weeks before the gig happened. I had convinced myself that I would need to use Lydon's famous catchphrase, "Ever get the feeling you've been cheated?" I'm glad that for once, my preconceptions were shattered. With over two and a quarter hours of music, taking in some of the most innovative songs in Lydon's repertoire, I don't think anyone could complain that he had cheated us. Although no new material was aired, there is talk of a new album if Lydon can raise enough money from this tour to pay for the studio time. He clearly still has the attitude so let's hope he also still has the imagination to give us another "Metal Box".

Colour, Sound, Oblivion

EFTERKLANG - Birmingham Asylum

I had been debating all week whether to attend this show. On the same night, Ben Calvert was putting on one of his regular Bohemian Jukebox events, which seemed like the more convenient option, being in a central location. The Asylum is, I believe, a new venue, located in a part of town I never visit and I had no idea how to get there. Despite feeling a certain loyalty to Ben, my curiosity got the better of me at the last minute and I decided to take a psychogeographic wander through the industrial wasteland to the north of the city centre and check out the new venue. The disused buildings I passed on the way provide the perfect setting for what seems to be primarily a rock/metal club, but Efterklang don't quite fit in with these surroundings. They soon make me forget the bleak scenery outside and instead I start to think of their Danish homeland.

I have listened to most of the band's recorded work at home and found it very atmospheric and relaxing. The live show, however, is something else entirely. It is far more rhythmic than I was expecting and two things become apparent as soon as they take to the stage. Firstly, they have two drummers, like Adam and the Ants. Secondly, one of the drummers plays standing up, like the Jesus and Mary Chain. They don't really sound like either of those bands, although comparisons could perhaps be drawn with the rhythmic elements of the Ants' early work. The sit-down drummer sometimes stands up and plays a trumpet. The stand-up drummer also sings, sometimes engaging in luscious harmonies with the female keyboard player. When he's not doing this, he roams the stage playing a variety of hand-held percussion instruments, or just drumming on the ceiling. The music often has an epic, cinematic sound and it seems lazy to compare it to Sigur Rós, so I won't do that. It is reminiscent of a whole host of bands: recent Faust, or perhaps even King Crimson, but the band that repeatedly springs to mind is Mercury Rev. This similarity is impossible to miss on the songs that feature a flute, also played by the singing keyboard lady; nobody here is content with one instrument. What I'm talking about here is the proper Mercury Rev, which many readers may not know or care for. I don't mean the washed-out sound of their last couple of albums, I mean the Mercury Rev of the early 1990s, when they were doing something truly exciting and their live shows were always unpredictable. It has saddened me to watch their gradual decline over the last few years, so it's uplifting to see that their original spirit lives on in Efterklang.

The band's name is the Danish word for "reverberation" and is also sometimes used to mean "remembrance". Both of these are very appropriate, given the band's overall sound and also the feelings they invoke in those present. While I've never had any real experience of synesthesia, if I had to use one word to describe Efterklang's sound, it would probably be "colourful". The artwork for their new live album resembles a Paul Klee painting, and if you close your eyes when listening to their music, this is the kind of abstract image that you might conjure up. The geometric shapes in contrasting colours could be thought of as representing the different instruments and musical styles that combine in Efterklang's work. They should clash terribly but when brought together, these diverse elements form something unexpectedly beautiful.

During "Step Aside", the singer starts to wander around before disappearing backstage. It's not clear whether he is looking for something in particular, or has just been inspired to explore his surroundings by the music coming at him from all sides. He returns after a short while, having found what he was looking for; a glockenspiel. He uses this to play a single note at the climax of the song. The instrument is then discarded and is not used for the rest of the show. However, this small act generates a cheer from the crowd and highlights how each individual element, no matter how tiny, is equally significant to the structure of one of Efterklang's songs.

The most enjoyable gigs are often the ones that you go into with no particular level of anticipation, so that they take you by surprise. With Efterklang, I was prepared for an evening of pleasant ambience. I did not expect something that left me still feeling invigorated two days later. I have since revisited their "Parades" album but have been unable to recapture the heights of the live show. If you are intrigued by what I've written then by all means try their recorded output, which has its own artistic merits. But the true joy of Efterklang can only be discovered when you are standing a few feet away from them. These two live clips may give you some idea of what I'm talking about. (You can see me for about two seconds, right at the end of the second clip as the band are leaving the stage.) Those of you with access to services such as eMusic or Spotify might like to do a quick comparison between these clips and one of their albums; there is an amazing level of energy and passion in the live show that they don't quite manage to capture on record.

If anyone in Leeds reads this in time, you could do a lot worse than getting yourself down to Stylus at the Leeds University Union tonight where Efterklang are playing as part of the Brainwash festival. After that, the band are on a tour of Europe, so let's hope they return to the UK soon.

Australian Melodrama

ROWLAND S. HOWARD - TEENAGE SNUFF FILM

This is not a new album; it's actually been out for almost 10 years but I only discovered it about a week ago. Rowland Stuart Howard, for the uninitiated, was the guitarist and occasional songwriter in 1980s Australian punks, The Birthday Party. After the band's split in 1983 (due to that old favourite, "creative differences" between Howard and main songwriter Nick Cave) he was far less prolific than his former bandmate. After a few collaborations with the likes of Lydia Lunch and ex-Swell Maps frontman Nikki Sudden, Howard formed a short-lived band called These Immortal Souls and then disappeared from the public eye in the mid-1990s.

He has recently released an excellent 7" called "Pop Crimes" (hopefully paving the way for a new album) and this led me to investigate what he's been doing for the past 15 years. Not much, it seems; when I discovered that, before the new single, he had only released one record since the demise of These Immortal Souls, I decided I should check it out immediately. I wasn't disappointed, as "Teenage Snuff Film" has barely left my turntable since it arrived.

Within seconds of the first song starting, it becomes apparent what a great voice Howard has. It is similar to Richard Hawley's deep crooning, but far more menacing. This is the first of several similarities with Hawley's new album. Both records are built around the recurring theme of a failed relationship, but while Hawley chooses to deal with his heartbreak in an adult fashion and settles for mellow reflection, Howard clearly has revenge in mind, with titles such as "I Burnt Your Clothes". When he spits out the line "My darling I never knew, how hard it was to get rid of you" in the song "Breakdown (and then...)" you suspect he's contemplating how to dispose of the body.

Another attraction is Howard's guitar playing. His role in The Birthday Party was to bury everything under layers of feedback, but his playing style has evolved and much of the guitar work here echoes the finest moments in Johnny Cash's back catalogue. To give you some idea of his talent, here he is playing the opening track from "Teenage Snuff Film" in a record shop in Melbourne last year:



I'm still kicking myself for missing out on this album for so long. If, in a few years' time, I decide to update the opening entry in this blog and list another five great albums that most people have never heard, "Teenage Snuff Film" is sure to be included.

Late Night Final

RICHARD HAWLEY - TRUELOVE'S GUTTER

It's been a couple of months since I last posted anything here. This is down to a mixture of laziness and minor health problems. Over the past two weeks, I've gone slightly overboard with new music purchases so I now feel the need to share some of them with you. I have a pile of albums from Rowland S. Howard, At Swim Two Birds, Porcupine Tree and a few others waiting to be dealt with and I'll try to post a quick summary of some of these over the next few days, but I'm bound to run out of time. I should probably start with Richard Hawley, as this is the most high-profile release of the week.

I guess I don't need to give too much background information on Richard Hawley, and many of you will have heard at least one of his previous releases, unlike some of the more obscure artists I review here. Hawley had stated that the title of his last album, "Lady's Bridge", as well as being a location in Sheffield, referred to crossing a bridge in his personal life and his career. The music on that album displayed a definite change from earlier releases; he had discarded most of the blues and rockabilly elements and moved firmly into an area that had been hinted at previously, a world inhabited by the likes of Gene Pitney and The Everly Brothers. I remember being surprised at how much I enjoyed "Lady's Bridge", as the sound was reminiscent of something my mother would have listened to in her youth, and would probably still enjoy now. Back in the 1990s, when Hawley was a member of Britpop also-rans The Longpigs, it would have been hard to imagine him singing ballads in this style, or me and my fellow DJs at the time getting excited about it.

Hawley is now clearly on that side of the bridge, and on "Truelove's Gutter" he has developed the sound into something much darker. The instrumentation is slightly sparser than on "Lady's Bridge" and he appears to have been more experimental in his choice of instruments. The credits list such items as cristal baschet, glass harmonica, musical saw and waterphone. I'm not entirely sure what all of these things are, but I'm guessing they are responsible for the atmospheric textures found on many of the songs. Lyrically, it is also his bleakest work to date. Prior to its release, Hawley explained that the songs are based on the trials and tribulations of his own life. It could almost be described as a concept album, with each track seemingly narrated by the same character: a man reflecting on a broken relationship, blaming himself and pleading with his lover to return. I'm not sure how much of this actually comes from Hawley's life. As far as I'm aware, he has been happily married for some time, so maybe there are people from his distant past now listening to this album and wondering if it's about them.

The real beauty of Hawley's lyrics is the way he writes about real life in a way that makes it easy for any listener to relate to the songs. There are at least two songs here that seem to describe very clearly events from my own life. This was obviously quite unsettling the first time I played the album, but ultimately makes it a very rewarding listen. It somehow doesn't seem right for me to go into explicit detail about which songs struck a personal chord with me, so instead I will suggest that readers try to find connections with their own lives in Hawley's songs.

One thing that struck me as odd before I had even listened to the record is the way the lyrics are presented on the sleeve. Each song is displayed on a handwritten scroll, gradually becoming blurred towards the bottom of the page and partially obscured by old coins, pieces of jewellery, seashells etc. Initially I was irritated by this, as it made the lyrics hard to read, but it soon became apparent that this should just be treated as part of the cover art and not an actual lyric sheet. Hawley's voice is so clear that every word he sings can be heard without the need for printed lyrics. There are very few current artists about whom you could say that, so this is yet another reminder of the music of the 1950s. I'm sure all of us have had our taste in music criticised by our parents because "you can't hear the words".

I'm not sure if this is Hawley's best album, as many reviews have suggested. Lyrically he has certainly outshone previous efforts. However, the sound is perhaps a little too consistent, to the extent that when "Soldier On" explodes into its climactic ending, it comes as a relief just to have a little variety. This song displays the kind of drama that Nick Cave often injects into his ballads, and Hawley should consider incorporating more of this into his next album.

I am currently asking myself whether I need to see this album played live. Hawley is playing what is bound to be an expensive gig at the Town Hall in a couple of weeks. I saw him on his last tour and it was an enjoyable show but can I justify forking out to see him again? Psych-guitarist James Blackshaw is playing at another venue on the same night, probably for a quarter of the price, so I'm considering seeing him instead. Are any regular readers going to either of these gigs? I'm not sure if "Truelove's Gutter" will be so meaningful when heard in a large venue; it works better alone with the curtains drawn and a glass of whisky.

Agitate, Educate, Organize...

THAT PETROL EMOTION - Birmingham Academy

It was a rather poor turnout for the return of the Ulster/Seattle rockers, with the Academy 2 barely half-full. It was good to be one of the youngest people in the audience for once, as I found myself amidst a number of hardcore fans who had probably been following the band since 1985, with quite a few old, faded t-shirts from early tours on display. As with several gigs I've attended recently, I was hoping to relive part of my teenage years. I was particularly keen to see singer Steve Mack again, as for a brief period in 1987 I had been obsessed with him (in a purely heterosexual way, of course) after seeing this clip on Channel 4's "The Tube":


That performance made a lasting impression on my 16-year-old mind and for a while I thought he was the coolest person on the planet, although I ditched him as a style icon a few years later when he started to sport bleached dreadlocks.

I was wondering how the band would have survived the ravages of time. Obviously they look a little older now, but one of the O'Neill brothers (I'm not sure which one is which; the one with the glasses, anyway) was still quite fresh-faced and Steve Mack was in fine form. He certainly looks better now than in his dreadlocked phase and most importantly, he is still as energetic as he was 20 years ago and still performing the same dance moves that I first witnessed on "The Tube". He soon had most of the audience dancing but few of us had the stamina to keep up with him.

Although the performance was undeniably intense and it was a joy to see that Steve Mack has lost none of his charm over the last 20 years, the setlist was surprising and, I have to admit, a little disappointing. It was heavily biased in the direction of the last two albums (which I've never listened to that much) with a couple of songs from "Manic Pop Thrill" and just one song from "Babble" - I'm sure you can guess which song.

While I don't like bands to be predictable and just play the hits, it seems odd that what is, to many people, their best release has been sidelined like this. I heard several shouts for "Swamp" from people at the front, and a friend asked me if I thought we were likely to get any more tunes from "Babble" as this was the only one of their albums that he really knew. It may just be that in their old age, the band find that the more recent songs are still fresh in their minds, but I'm wondering if they have decided that "Babble" no longer fits in with the vibe that they want to create.

I've never consciously thought about this before, but "Babble" is very different from their other albums. It has a harder guitar sound, courtesy of producer Roli Mosimann (better known for his work with the likes of Swans and Foetus) and the overall feel of the album is much more serious than anything that TPE released before or after it. It is overtly political, both lyrically and in the newspaper headlines and slogans that emblazon the sleeve, making references to the situation in Northern Ireland at the time of recording. Many of their later songs, particularly the ones aired at this gig - "Sensitize", "Tingle", "Hey Venus" etc. - are lighter in their sound and subject matter. It seems TPE now prefer their shows to be about having a good time and forgetting about the problems in the world. Which is a shame, because with the current political and financial state of the UK, the songs from "Babble" have never been more relevant.

I'm not sure how permanent this reunion will be and if they plan to record new material; I didn't notice any new songs played during the show. I would love to see them again, as Steve Mack is still one of the best frontmen I've witnessed live, regardless of which songs are played. But next time if they could include, at the very least, "Swamp" and "Creeping To The Cross", then I'm sure many people would go home very happy indeed.