David Harfield

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Album Review

Posted by davidharfield on January 21, 2009

The Virgins – The Virgins

Spiky.  Artsy.  Slick.  Edgy.   Some or all of these adjectives are bound to be employed by various music hacks to describe this New York quartet who has recently been purveying their own brand of up-tempo funk-soul in a very cool bar near you.  Comparisons with fellow New Yorkers The Strokes are also a sure-fire bet, similarities that are not unfounded.  Both are led by Manhattan scenesters who clearly like a party, and the sound of angular guitars chopping over hi-hat heavy drums is not a million miles away from The Strokes debut Is This It.  But while Julian Casablanca’s lyrics seared with a caustic wit and jaded indifference to the sex and drugs clichés that permeate New York’s uber-cool social scene, Virgins front man Donald Cummings instead revels in the decadence of, “cocaine brunches” of “the girls on the street”.

A few too many, “ooh baby’s” and, “woo woo’s” (one song is actually called Hey Hey Girl) make The Virgins’ eponymous debut anything other than great background music for the sorts of art-house parties that the band are used to frequenting.  Only Murder diverges from the spoilt rich kid narratives; sporting a chorus straight out of George Clinton’s songbook it sounds like a courtroom testimony put through a funk-o-meter and given a disco overhaul.

The melodies are rich throughout and, while not the most original they are certainly catchy, with songs such as Rich Girls and She’s Expensive sure to be sound tracking the next series of E4’s Skins.   The prominent bass lines complete with syncopated guitar riffs and funk-harmonies are so polished that the one almost expects credits to roll after the album’s finale, listing Prince and Lenny Kravitz as co-producers.

It’s not that The Virgins are a bad band, nor that this is a bad album.  The sunshine harmonies and prolific hooks interwoven amongst angsty tales of fun, frolics and fashion will have you dancing your woes away in your own imaginary downtown disco.  It’s just that you can’t help but feel that they could have taken a few more risks in making the album, rather than following the same identikit formula for success that so many of their spiky, artsy, slick and edgy predecessors have used.  Still, it’s understandable that they’d want their first time to go as smoothly as possible.

David Harfield

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When The Music’s Over

Posted by davidharfield on January 18, 2009

We have reached a new age in music, one that has been threatening to come for some time now.  One in which CDs have become near-obsolete relics from a not-so-distant past and the very notion of musical ownership has become challenged.  One in which any kid with an 8-track and an internet connection can become an overnight superstar without anything so antiquated as a record deal.  One in which avid record collectors who have spent their lives viciously bartering over a bootleg Smiths LP or a scratched vinyl documenting that night when Dylan and Van Morrison jammed on each others’ songs, have seen their kids download a lifetime’s back catalogue in under an hour (given a healthy Ethernet connection.)  One in which no note remains sacred, no recording unattainable, no live gig remains a unique moment in history.  If Burns’ adage that, “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter,” rings true, then the surfeit of songs that modern technology is providing us with must be the most saccharine in musical history.  All this leaves us asking, is the music over?

The line between fans and thieves is becoming increasingly blurred, with sites like Limewire providing access to an unending treasure trove of music at virtually no financial cost.  Perhaps you consider this an inevitable backlash against decades of music industry greed, raising prices of albums, setting inordinately high ticket prices and bleeding dry the artists that sign with them.  Juxtaposed against the current financial climate, a parallel could certainly be drawn between these companies and the avaricious bankers, whose billions have been lost due to their gluttonous desire for personal gain in the credit crunch.  Or perhaps the Luddite in you yearns for the old days of queuing round the corner on a Monday for the latest Stone Roses release, with the reassuring feeling that spending £13.99 on a plastic case with an artsy cover will form an indelible link between you and the artist and that the inevitable viruses that accompany such downloading are a deserved infection, like some charlatan catching chlamydia in Magaluf.

Whatever your own personal stance on the subject, the fact is that the new technology is now ubiquitous; 2008 saw Seasick Steve become the first hobo in history to play the Jools Holland show, (Shane McGowan notwithstanding); more and more would be flash-in-the pan acts are achieving sustained credibility and acclaim thanks to the buzz created by internet forums and MySpace pages and the fans.  So what will 2009 have in store for us?  Little Boots, this year’s hotly tipped pop sensation is a Blackpool born electro-songstress, who reached overnight success by singing Duran Duran covers on YouTube in her pyjamas and has been described as the antidote to modern guitar music.  I suddenly find myself humming the Eels’ Cancer for the Cure…

As Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s character proclaimed in Almost Famous, “Rock‘n’Roll?  It’s over.  You got here just in time for the death rattle.”  The plethora of free music that is now available at our fingertips is either the resurrection or the wake, depending on your point of view.

David Harfield

(http://www.roomthirteen.com/features/663/When_The_Musics_Over.html)

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Restaurant Review

Posted by davidharfield on January 16, 2009

Ithaca

36 John Dalton St, Manchester, M2 6LE

If the first victim of recession is luxury then no one told the management of Ithaca, Manchester’s opulent new Japanese restaurant, a venue that wears its £4m price tag on its kimono sleeve as well as its grandiose furnishings.  One concession has been made to the current economic state though, a Wetherspoons-esque promotional deal; slightly tacky, rather like Harrods having a bargain basement.  Still, a free meal’s a free meal, so, clutching my privilege card that entitled me to a 241 lunch (their abbreviation, not mine), I ventured forth into Manchester’s luncheon quarter to cash in on this generous offer.

We hit our first hurdle on arrival; the two for one set menu (sorry, just can’t do the number thing, it’s so 90’s), was not vegetarian friendly and my date is as vegetarian as they come.  Never fear though, our hostess informed us that in addition to the two for one offer, the à la carte menu came with a 40% discount for every customer and that this was the case every lunchtime, Monday through till Thursday.  Right.  Feeling a little less privileged yet enthused with the idea of a free reign over the à la carte choices, we left our discount cards in tatters as we were led to our knee-height table that gave us a window-seat view of the KPMG Manchester offices.  The irony of the two buildings’ juxtaposition was not lost on us, nor on the vociferous group of accountants on an adjacent table, whose expense accounts were clearly grateful for the cost-efficient splendour that Ithaca provides.

The menu is set out in a rather prosaic fashion, listing Pan-Asian delicacies as if they were school dinners.  With a weakness for eating anything that once took flight, I settled on the sliced duck breast with spiced carrot and raisins, dressed with nashi pear and sake soy sauce.  My date had the enigmatically titled ‘vegetable pot’, which consisted of peculiarly shaped sake-soaked vegetables floating in a red curry paste, served in what appeared to be an Action Man’s cauldron.  Both dishes were fantastic and I ended up finishing the remainder of the generous vegetable pot as my duck, while ornately presented and pleasantly lingering, did not satisfy my Western appetite. 

The discount did not stretch as far as the wine list, which was reassuringly expensive; the savvy management realised that any money saved on food will invariably be re-invested in drinks.  A nice touch was that our waitress kept the bottle of wine off the table, refilling our glasses at appropriate intervals throughout the meal; perfect for those who fancy a boozy lunch without risking the judicious eyes of colleagues, (take note KPMG employees).

Situated just outside the heart of the city, Ithaca’s restaurant is a perfect day venue for a smart-casual meeting, a discount lunch date or an expensive drowning of sorrows.  It’s certainly hooked me enough to return in the evening and check out the upstairs bar area that no doubt will be littered with inebriated accountants slurring boring stories of their glory days.  Still, if the restaurant’s 40% reduction continues, roll on the recession! 

David Harfield

Posted in Restaurant Reviews | Tagged: , , | 2 Comments »

Film of the Day

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

Melinda and Melinda (2005)

Dir: Woody Allen

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Will Ferrell, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloe Sevigny

The trouble with Woody Allen films that don’t star the eccentric recluse himself, is that his leading men usually portray an imitation of Allen, which more often than not leads to caricature, (see Kenneth Brannagh’s sycophantic stuttering in Celebrity for evidence.)  Not so in Melinda and Melinda though, a whimsical yet hugely enjoyable delight; instead of aping Allen’s gushing verbosity, Will Ferrell treads a delicate line between erudite quips and screwball laughs as a man that falls in love with a beautiful stranger that comes to stay.  Ferrell never ‘out-Woodys’ Allen, but proves an apt foil for the writer/director’s deft one-liners and throwaway quips, all delivered with the idiosyncratic style that has brought him to the fore of contemporary big-screen comedy.

This Sliding Doors-esque rom-com begins with two Broadway directors debating whether life is essentially tragic or comic; cue a story spun about a group of friends whose lives are all affected by the arrival of Melinda, a beautiful yet deeply troubled ex-socialite who comes with more baggage than a BA terminal on opening day.  Both directors narrate an interwoven tale of their take on how Melinda will affect the group, both with tragic or comic undertones.

Radha Mitchell excels herself in the dual role of both Melindas, stepping out from Diane Keaton’s silhouette as Woody’s leading lady in her portrayal of a downtrodden Park Avenue scene-queen, surviving on a diet of scotch, cigarettes and neuroses.  Wonderful support comes from an ensemble cast of Hollywood’s underrated finest, including Chloe Sevigny, Josh Brolin and Chiwetel Ejiofor as a hilariously self-assured piano player.

As is so often in Allen’s writing, the schizophrenic cynicism of the New York socialite scene that he clearly both reviles and revels in is never clearer than in this Janus-ian farce.  Melinda and Melinda mercilessly lampoons the clichés of washed-up actors, (played with heartfelt animosity that touches a little too close to home by Jonny Lee Miller), affluent dentists drunk on their own success and the casual infidelities strewn amongst the character’s relationships that epitomise the Manhattanscene.  Yet when Allen shows us the cocktail and piano parties held in plush Upper East Side lofts, the candlelit bistros that accommodate illicit liaisons and the dusty strolls along New York’s epic landscape, the shots are tinged with his sense of belonging, or at least the wishful face pressed up against the window, the cynical voyeur of the rich and the beautiful.

Melinda and Melinda has been criticised for merely rehashing Allen’s old material, namely Crimes and Misdemeanours, and telling the tales of characters that we have seen a thousand times before, simply with a contemporary backdrop; yet these snipes miss the point of Allen’s films. Certainly, the characters are familiar to us, but they are ones that Allen has actually met, ones who he has loved, hated, cherished and rejected throughout his lifetime, and no one can portray them with more honesty, clarity and piercing accuracy than the master of satire himself.

David Harfield

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MOJO – Disc Of The Day

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

Ryan Adams – Demolition

(Lost Highway, 2002)
2002’s low-key offering from Elton John endorsed boy wonder.

It’s a testament to Ryan Adams’ mercurial songwriting ability that a record essentially made up of leftovers and ‘non-releases’ from previous albums stands out amid a discography as long as the singer’s pharmacological shopping list. Ethan Johns’ laissez-faire production style complements Adams’ songcraft perfectly, especially on Cry On Demand, a song whose playful, bittersweet melancholy captures the essence of the album. Demolition garnered accolades from a steadily growing list of celebrity Adams-fans, including Elton John, Alanis Morissette and Bono, who all saw the genius buried within the mayhem of Adams’ on/offstage performances. Even nonchalant rocker Starting To Hurt achieves the kind of the intimate, credible stadium feel that U2 have been striving for their entire career. Since embarking upon a somewhat erratic solo career that often threatened to disappear amidst the ether of regrettable YouTube clips, Adams has self-documented his rocky ride, up, down and around the block. The achingly poignant lyrics on Hallelujah show Adams’ frustrating awareness of his own tendency to balls things up: “If I could have a simple love, how would it feel and what would it mean? / I’d only trade you in, for a Mary Magdalene.” Art, imitating life, imitating art, imitating life, ad infinitum.

David Harfield

Further Listening:
Ryan Adams – Heartbreaker (Bloodshot, 2000)
Jesse Malin – The Fine Art Of Self-Destruction (Artemis, 2002)
Neil Young – After The Gold Rush (Reprise, 1970)
(http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/12/ryan_adams.html)

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MOJO Live: Jolie Holland

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

 

Ruby Lounge, Manchester

December 2, 2008

Letting your hillbilly country cousin open a show for you is either a benevolent act of charity, or a shrewd ploy to lower audience expectations; either way, after Sam Amidon’s support set that consisted of tuneless, banjo-accompanied sea shanties, each interrupted by nonsensical monologues and culminating with a break-dancing finale, any performance Jolie Holland had churned out would have been greeted with warm enthusiasm by the audience at Ruby Lounge, Manchester. If indeed this was such a ruse, the Texan songstress needn’t have bothered; her Waits-ian, bluesy folk more than excused her peculiar choice of a warm-up act. With a vocal quality evocative of Beth Orton after a round of treacle-laced Jack Daniels, Holland also had that Regina Spektor-ish knack of treating lyrics not as words but as sounds, sounds that she could twist, contort, lengthen or cut off, lending the songs a curiously burlesque trait. Punctuating the end of each song with a curtsied, “Thanks y’all!” added to the intimate atmosphere already generated by the giant lamp offering soft, mood lighting to a stage littered with banjos and fiddles, as if it had been styled on a living room in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains.

Highlights included rabble-raising stomper and recent single, The Living And The Dead and breezy lament Crush In The Ghetto, with Holland sounding at once gracefully effortless and torturously heart strained, a delightful paradox fitting for the tiny girl with a canyon-sized voice, who referenced the Velvet Underground, John Coltrane and Native Americans as influences throughout the show. In keeping with the cosy feel of the gig, Holland chatted with MOJO afterwards, and it was immediately obvious by her sultry, cherubic looks and enchanting Southern drawl why 90% of her audience that night were male; mainly paunchy, middle-aged men looking lustfully on and regretting what could have been, but never was. Would she draw such a crowd if she had the same talent, but looked like Beth Ditto’s fatter sister? Probably not. Does it matter? Definitely not.

David Harfield

(written at MOJO magazine, Dec 2008)

Posted in Live Reviews | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Interview: Jamie T

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

 

Title Track: TBA

Release Date: March 2009

Producers: Jamie T, Ben Bones

Tracks: Hocus Pocus, Emily’s Heart, Murder On The Green, Sticks And Stones, Bruce

Two years on from 2007′s Mercury Prize-nominated album Panic Prevention, cockney geezer/kitchen-sink poet Jamie Treays has been looking to America for inspiration, referencing Bright Eyes and Joanna Newsome as influences on his still-untitled second long-player.  He says he’s written some conventional verse-chorus-verse tracks and particularly likes the idea of “summing a story up in one line”, as opposed to his usual stream-of-consciousness ranting.  “I prefer singing about what I see, rather than lyrics that are too metaphorical,” he says.  “It’s easier to filter out the crap when you do more structured songs…but then I get bored and go back to my old way!”

David Harfield

(published in MOJO magazine, March 2009)

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Also Rising: Crystal Antlers

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

Two years into their psych-punk quest across the US and Californian quintet Crystal Antlers have managed to leave their mark on almost every state in America. “We’ve driven 6,000 miles on this latest trip and spent less than $25 on gas,” they recently told MOJO, before going on to explain the ve

getable oil-propelled second engine of their tour bus. “It’s the only way we can afford to do this, because the shows barely cover costs,” added bassist/vocalist Jonny Bell. “It’s a big struggle at the moment. Which is great. Struggle is great for being creative.”

Crystal Antlers began life as a trio made up of Bell, original guitarist Errol Davis and drummer Kevin Stuart. As their penchant for gutted gospel grunge became stronger, Victor Rodriguez (organ) and Damien Edwards (percussion) soon became permanent fixtures (Andrew King also replaced Davis on guitar). As Bell says, they all “come from a punk background but we wanted our music to have that soul spirit”.

Their 2009 debut proper, Touch And Go, already looks set to be one of the defining records of the next 12 months. In the meantime we have the celestial thunder of their new EP to enjoy. Bell: “We’re cleaning the dirt from people’s ears!”

David Harfield

To read the published article, click here.

To listen to Crystal Antlers, click here.

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News Digest: Thursday, December 4

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

Fleetwood Mac are set to embark on a tour of the U.S.

The Unleashed trek will kick-off inPittsburgh on March 1, 2009 and will see the classic mid-’70s line-up of the band delivering a string of their greatest hits. Christine McVie is not slated to appear. In the meantime, their unstoppable, multi-platinum album Rumours is to be reissued in a special CD/DVD boxed set. The package will include previously unreleased tracks recorded during theRumours sessions and a bonus DVD. For more Mac tour date information,head over to their official site HERE.

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Oasis chief Noel Gallagher has once again fuelled rumours that a solo album is on the way. Speaking to Radio 1’s Colin Murray, the guitarist revealed that on completing the band’s Dig Out Your Soul world tour, he’d like to see the all of Oasis embark on separate ventures. “I don’t specifically put songs aside. There are songs that have just fallen by the wayside that are still great but have missed their moment. Like Stop The Clocks, for instance.” On the subject of his younger brother, Noel stated, “Liam’s always the first person to start rushing things. I think if he wants to get back in the saddle that quick, he should do it for himself. He’s got tonnes and tonnes of songs.” You can hear all four parts of the interview HERE.

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Led Zeppelin‘s John Paul Jones is set to perform with Sonic Youth at the Brooklyn Academy in April. Zeppelin’s multi-instrumentalist has been working with the band on a piece that will accompany a new work by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company – the same collective that broughtRadiohead and Sigur Rós together in 2003. The event will take place between April 16-19.

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Woodpigeon, the eight-piece indie-folk outfit from Canada, will release their new album, Treasury Library Canada on February 9, 2009. In support of the record, they’ll be touring the UK.

The band play:

WESTGARTH SC, MIDDLESBROUGH (February 21)

THE CAPTAINS REST, GLASGOW (22)

THE END, NEWCASTLE (23)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, MANCHESTER (24)

ICA, LONDON (25)

THE AUDIO, BRIGHTON (26)

Support comes from The Miserable Rich.

David Harfield 

(http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/12/news_digest_thursday_december.html)

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News Digest, Monday December 1

Posted by davidharfield on January 15, 2009

Axl Rose has lambasted drinks company Dr Pepper for failing to honour their pledge to give a free drink to every American if Guns N’Roses’ long-awaited Chinese Democracy was released in 2008.

In a letter to Dr Pepper, Rose’s lawyer Alan Gutman wrote: “The redemption scheme your company clumsily implemented for this offer was an unmitigated disaster which defrauded consumers and, in the eyes of vocal fans, ruined the day of Chinese Democracy‘s release.” Gutman went on to demand a full-page apology be printed in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

Chinese Democracy was beaten to the Number 1 spot yesterday by The Killers‘ new album Day & Age. You can read MOJO’s official verdict on the new GN’R record by clicking HERE.

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Folk America, a series of concerts celebrating the enduring legacy of USfolk music, are to take place at London’s Barbican Theatre in January 2009. Judy Collins, Eric Andersen, John Sebastian, Seasick Steve, The Wiyos and The Byrds’ Roger McGuinn are all set to make appearances. The gigs take place on January 21 and 22 and will be broadcast on BBC Four on January 30.

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AEG promoter Rob Hallett, has stated that he has another reformation “up his sleeve” – one that is apparently second only to Led Zeppelin in popularity and legend. “If you were a teenage boy in the pre-punk ’70s you’re going to be very excited. Outside of Led Zeppelin, this is probably the biggest reformation you can hope for.” Who could it be? Let us know your thoughts by posting below.

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Glastonbury has become too important to the local economy to ever lose its licence, claims the festival’s founder Michael Eavis. 2002 saw the licence briefly refused, following complaints from surrounding villages but the decision was swiftly overturned. According to Eavis, the show will go on: “There’s no discussion about not allowing the festival a licence anymore; they won’t stop it now”.

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The Prodigy have made a new track available to download for free from their official website. Invaders Must Die can be retrieved from the site until the end of the week. The band’s new album is set for release on March 2, 2009.

David Harfield

(http://www.mojo4music.com/blog/2008/12/news_digest_thursday_november_5.html)

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