Cougar Microbes

Londoners The Brute Chorus have been pitched as a UK version of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros and whilst a parallel can be drawn to their theatrical story telling their musical stamp is more old time blues and surf rock than alternative folk.

Frontman James Steel brings out a smorgasbord of references showcasing the swagger of Chris Isaak, the cockiness of a young Bruce Springsteen, the clarity and slight twang of Johnny Borrell and, in tracks like ‘She Was Always Cool‘, an occasional whiff of Pete Doherty.

The guitars are razor sharp and the choruses are brash enough for you to envisage an over excited mosh pit of fans bouncing out of time.  They’re playing smallish festivals and UK venues this summer and with a following of bar room brawlers I have no doubt they will graduate to larger London venues very soon.

The album ‘How the Caged Bird Sings’ is released on Tape next month

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Guest post by the miraculous Ruby

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TRACKS:

The Brute Chorus – Could This Be Love?

This weekend I sat down to plan my gig calendar for the next few months. I can’t believe its already February and already there are some classic events coming up. Before we even notice it will be festival season again.

Still, this year will have to deliver very highly considering the quality of shows I witnessed in 2009. My highlights were as follows:

Rock En Seine 2009

There is something primordial about watching a crowd of 19’000 go mental watching The Prodigy on the outskirts of Paris. The fact that the festival also offered up classic performances from Birdy Nam Nam, MGMT, Metric, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs was an added bonus.

Neil Young/ Bruce Springsteen live at Hyde Park

As far as rock legends go you could do much worse than seeing either Shakey and The Boss live. The fact that I saw them play back to back at Hyde Park this summer was Epic. Both lived up to their legendary status and my I concluded my weekend as a very happy man.

Cursive live at Dingwalls

I have already said several times on these pages that Tim Kusher is a songwriting hero of mine. Back in July I finally saw him live fronting Cursive at the intimate Camden venue. The fact that they picked and mixed  discography and the relative closeness to the stage made this a night to remember and led Kenny to drunkenly label it “a religious experience for the atheist“.

Good luck with living up to that 2010

TRACKS:

The Prodigy – Invaders Must Die ? Liam H Re-amped Version

Yoni Gordon and The Goods‘ latest album ‘Turning Chaos Into A Career‘ has had me returning for repeated listens above and beyond the call of duty. The passionate frontman and his gang showcase a comprehensive set of songs and an album that doesn’t lag at any stage.

The band are frequently accosted to ‘Ted Leo & The Pharmacists‘ and I can see where this comparison comes from but with this release they may break out of  this shadow. It is more likely that aspiring to recreate the sentiments of his heroes, namely Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello, has seen Yoni expand his horizons. This is immediately noticeable with upbeat opener ‘Dead But Not Forgotten‘ with its ambitious structure and inclusion of organs and bells as well as a full on campfire worthy clap and chant ending.

Yoni‘s nasal voice, slightly reminiscent of Ben Weasel from Screeching Weasel, is certainly an acquired taste but serves as a reminder that the band’s roots were planted in the punk movement. However, the introduction of folk and dub elements give these tracks an inventive spark and moves them beyond their original scope.

The title track as well as ‘His Nation in Decline‘ and ‘Test Of Time‘ take on this mantra introducing syncopated verses and memorable guitar riffs that are as good as anything Bedouin Soundclash, The Dead 60′s and other Clash disciples have released in recent years. Besides, even when the band return to a tried and tested “punk and roll” formula on a couple of moments it is done with enough enthusiasm and lyrical wit to keep it from sounding generic.

‘Polish Hill‘ is a slow building mix of  violins, accordions, big bass drums and lightly strummed guitars that grows into a wonderful folk crescendo.  The track was a brave inclusion on the album and is the bands most challenging moment. It is a sweeping tribute (I presume) to Polish Hill in his native New York and comes close to recreating Springsteen‘s idealist observation of every day people and forays into Americana.  This was a risky inclusion as it could have looked out of place next to the rest of the tracks but ultimately the common lyrical theme links it with the rest of the album seamlessly.

Tracks like ‘Army Time Is Over‘ and ‘Election Year (2008)‘  inject a dose of politics next to the ever present social consciousness theme. These topics are clearly important to Yoni and he is ably expresses his views clearly without shoving them down the listeners throat leaving the lasting impression of a passionate young man who wears his heart on his sleeves.

When I first listened to Yoni Gordon & The Goods I didn’t imagine it would make such a lasting impression on me. Gradually after repeated listens the album has grown on me and could merit a surprise inclusion on my Best Of 2009 list. ‘Turning Chaos Into A Career‘ is a rough diamond in amongst 2009 more prominent releases.

TRACKS:

Yoni Gordon and The Goods -Dead But Not Forgotten

Whilst the whole world focussed on Glastonbury a few weekends ago I attended what I jokingly called Glasto-lite, Hard Rock Calling. Having featured The Police, The Who and Aerosmith in past years this relatively new festival delivers a valid alternative to those who are unable (or unwilling) to disappear for 4 days camping in a muddy field in South West England.  This year the appeal of the Hyde Park shows was particularly evident with two of the Glasto headliners also featuring in London on the same weekend, and not just any rockstars either.

Saturday featured the ‘godfather of grunge‘ (a nickname that doesn’t begin to pay homage to the man) Neil Young. Having recently read the fascinating biography Shakey by Jimmy McDonough I think its safe to say that I am slightly obsessed with the Canadian living legend right now, but I’m also painfully aware of how unpredictable his live shows and track selection can be. Fortunately my worst fears never materialised as Young took to the stage looking fresh and reinvigorated and offered what was effectively a greatest hit set. Opening with ‘Hey Hey, Now Now (into The Black)‘ it was clear that tonight was going to be a special as he and his accomplished band stormed through 40 years of material.

It could be argued that Shakey was a little self-indulgent dragging his intro and outros on forever (particularly on the never ending ‘Rockin’ In The Free World‘) but when you offer crowd pleaser after crowd pleaser a little excess can be forgiven. Besides,  Young‘s guitar playing was majestic and vocally he didn’t miss a note leaving me in awe, particular during a hair rousing rendition of ‘Heart Of Gold‘ in the acoustic section. As the clouds above grew darker I was starting to worry that this spectacular evening might be ruined by a storm but miraculously highlights like ‘Fuckin Up‘ ‘Comes A Time‘, ‘Cinnamon Girl‘, and ‘Old Man‘ kept coming but the rain never showed.

Neil Young had one more surprise that would take this incredible night to supernova levels launching into The Beatles classic ‘A Day In The Life‘. This has been the choice for encore throughout this long tour but few could have been prepared for the appearance of Paul McCartney himself to sing the upbeat middle section. If I am not mistaken McCartney had never played the track live so to see 2 heroes play one of my favourite Beatles tracks was priceless.

Electirc Moustache nailed the feeling perfectly when they wrote:

“so you are there at the Neil Young concert having a great time and he starts playing “A Day in the Life” and you think ‘Hey, that’s pretty cool’ THEN Paul Fucking McCartney comes out on stage and your man nipples start producing milk. They should have made everybody pay and extra $100 on the way out for the privilege.

I felt that for a while nothing would top, let alone match, the performance I had seen the previous night but one man begged to differ. Flanked by The E Street Band, that man was Bruce Springsteen. Opening the set with The Clash‘s ‘London Calling‘ would have seen any lesser act fall flat on their face yet The Boss performed it with gusto instantly getting the audience eating from his hands.

This would be the third time I would witness this seasoned entertainment machine in action and each time I find myself astonished by Springsteen‘s sheer energy. It has been said a million times before but at 59 the man is old enough to be my dad yet has 59 times as much energy as men half his age. Over a three hour set the crowd was treated to 27 hand picked anthems spanning his entire discography.

Material from his recent albums may have received a slightly subdued reception but when Bruce and the gang broke into the classics such as ‘Thunder Road‘, ‘Born To Run‘ and ‘Badlands‘ the crowd literally erupted. By the end of the night the crowds where dancing in a dark Hyde Park as the sweat drenched band reluctantly bowed out.

Once again they proved there is only one ‘heart-stopping, pants-dropping, house-rocking, earth-shaking, booty-quaking, Viagra-taking, love-making – Le-gen-dary E – Street – Band!

TRACKS:

Neil Young – Fuckin Up

Bruce Springsteen – Thunder Road

Thank you to everyone who came down on Saturday night to ‘Hands Up Who Cares‘. I really enjoyed my DJ set and it seems most people enjoyed my picks(particularly you drunk guy shouting “brap/blur/brap” randomly).  Kick Up The Fire put on a great show showcasing some new material and got some bodies moving.  Next ‘Hands Up Who Cares’ is on the 11th of July, see you there?

Here is a sample of the tracks I played:

MP3’s:

The Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)

Bruce Springsteen should be worshipped as a fully qualified rock god. We are all familiar with his “Greatest Hits” but his back catalogue deserves to be dived into and discovered. In May 2008 I finally caught the man live two nights in a row at Emirates Stadium. To say it was perfect would be an understatement as he and The E Street Band launched into anthem after anthem as I stood with a big smile on my face. It would have been easy after all these years for them to take it easy and perform to the minimum possible requirement; instead they launched into every track like their lives depended on it. This was easily one of the highlights of the year and when Bruce shouted ”The highway is jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive” my heart skipped a beat.

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Last summer you probably heard MGMT before you knew you heard them. Tracks like ‘Time To Pretend’, ‘Kids’ and ‘Electric Feel‘ delivered melodies that attach themselves to your brain and force you to hum them for hours. And this was before you dived into the aptly named ‘Oracular Spectacular’ to hear a succession of tracks that evaded the status quo and yet defined the 08 sound. The follow up (whenever it arrives) is eagerly anticipated.