New Season is, quite incredibly 24 year old Luke's fourth studio album. Add that to over 650 live shows in varying continents as well as a greatest hits album and, well let's just say if you're over 24; you've probably underachieved by comparison. If you're under 24, you've got a lot of work to do.
In reality this musician's body of work and experience is unbelievable and to either concentrate on these or to only have the merest dalliance with them would be to threaten indifference to either the music or the work that has gone into it so please, let us begin...
~ This too shall pass ~
The album begins mournfully with Slow Down, introduced by a tao like hum and joined by languid piano and ernest, aching vocals which rather than set the tone for the album merely hint at what is to come.
The drumming towards the end of the opener is as angst ridden as Leighfield's carefully chosen words, speaking of heartache and pain. The way it glides off at the end and leads into a complete contrast with the album's title track is an early allusion to the strengths of this album.
Progressive guitars and upbeat in tempo and delivery in New Season, with a switch in styles akin to Ben Folds on his best works. Ben Folds being a comparison I now realise has been made in the past, but while so many comparisons are dismissed with not quite being in Leighfield's league you'll have to excuse such heavy weight assimilation and understand they're both necessary and absolutely warranted.
Listening to this album I had to take a bit of time in between each track because a lot goes on in the few minutes that he allows for each of his creations and in each of those is intrepid lyricism, vast soundscapes carefully crafted with keys, strings, brass, percussion, power and panache all taking their rightful places.
The momentum steps up whenever the pace threatens to drop for more than a couple of verses but if you like your songs to be powered through then the title track and Live For More are where your going to be happiest. However, to be dismissive of the more cerebral aspects of his music is like waiting until your tea is cold so you can drink it all at once, rather than opting for slow and meticulous intakes which is the perfect way to describe the more beautiful parts of this album.
Garde Te Foy embodies all aspects of the album in a glorious five and a half minutes that even after repeated listens seems to be over too soon. Light yet driving piano and lyrics that are almost difficult to listen to, the honesty that they display.
All this with the drawn out instrumental breaks and crescendo here and in album closer Do Not Settle make it feel like an immaculate coupling to complete what is an accomplished work but without even considering what's gone in his past, there's a lot in this fellow's future.
~ Keep your faith brother, You are where you're meant to be.
You are holding a sparkler but soon there will be a firework display.
You cannot see it but this is all mapped out ~
~ This too shall pass ~
Having been hugely impressed by Harbour's previous incarnation, Echoes at
last years' 2000 Trees, there's few other up and coming bands whose next move I've been awaiting with quite the anticipation I am from these... Gloucesterfarians...
News comes in the form of a pay-what-you-like download available from
BandCamp. For whatever you can afford you can get two tracks,
Colder and
Almost Home and for a little bit more you can get a limited edition package of the tracks on cassette tape or along with a Harbour t-shirt, however these are selling pretty quickly so get the hell in there yeah?
The music itself focuses on the strengths of the band and what made them so striking first time out; dual vocals, masterful instrumentation, atmospheric and intelligently layered music as well as honest and esteemed lyricism with marvellously penetrative delivery.
Colder embodies all these things. It's probably the best track I've heard this month, except that Almost Home is possibly even better... It's stupendously easy to forget that this is a release from a band in its formative stages. Formative stages that have seen them go down a storm everywhere they've played and becoming one of the must see bands this summer. But for now-
Download the tracks
HERE.
2000 Trees 2012: 13-14 July 2012 (plus VIP early entry available for 12 July)
Headline acts announced for 2000trees Festival!!
The most compelling of all summer festivals for, by its very nature it is everything you'd want a music festival to be- beautiful surroundings, welcoming and intimate atmosphere without being small fry, great toilets and great food which is fine some do come close. However, the vital thing is, 2000 trees also manages every year without fail to have the most impressive line ups around. This year, as has come to be expected; is no exception.
As well as the acts already announced for what in the past has been the best early entry part to a festival i've ever experienced (This year- Imperial Leisure, Tellison, Tall Ships, Straight Lines and the Cape of Good Hope), five bands that are regularly touted as "the best live act around right now" 65daysofstatic, Pulled Apart By Horses, Rolo Tomassi, The Xcerts and Johnny Foreigner.
So the Friday night looks like this- 65daysofstatic on the main stage, Pulled Apart By Horses in The Cave and The Xcerts on the Leaf Lounge.
Other acts unveiled are the brilliant My First Tooth, Brontide, Turbowolf, Freeze the Atlantic, Marmozets, Run WALK!, Shapes, The Bronze Medal, as well as the soon to be huge Goodnight Lenin, The Cadbury Sisters, Sam Russo, Jason Steel and Sam Brookes.
As always 2000trees will be the annual celebration of new and underground British music and will feature 80 bands on four stages, plus comedy, DJs, silent disco, children’s entertainment and great quality food and drink. It returns for its sixth year this time out near Cheltenham at Upcote Farm on July 12-14 and has already seen record ticket sales in its first two weeks. So get in there now!!!
Hope to see you there.
It's been 18 months since I wrote one of these posts. The reason it's been that long is: things have been getting progressively better every day since then.
Every now and then I like to write about
TWLOHA, here are my previous posts
#1,
#2,
#3, #
4 and
#5.
"I've been waiting for something to go wrong,
I've been waiting for familiar resolve"
But the truth is the worst day I can imagine is better than most of the days before then. It's just gotten easier. Every day.
Being self-reliant is an important goal. You're the only person that should be able to affect your mood in a negative way and if you can stop wanting to- it's easier.
As callous as it might seem to some people, removing people from my life, that have always affected it in a negative way has made every day that little bit easier and that's what I would like to impress today.
Looking at what affects your day negatively, whether it's been for decades, years, months, days or just the odd day and doing something, anything, about them. Every day if neccesary.
Equally, if there are positive things in your life, things that make you feel good- people, work, music, health, money, whatever it is just do what can to keep them in your life.
Something that gave me strength over the past couple of years was being in control of addictions, so I gave up alcohol. After two years I decided that having control over it but being able to have a single drink with people close to me was more important and having to explain my "decision" regularly was actually having a negative effect on my moods. In reality I don't often have any but now I say I sometimes have one or two. It's been that way for 6 months now and I'm happy with it.
I've also recently cut my dosage of anti-depressants, which i've been on for over 4 years in half and sometimes don't have any, this has been the way for two months and i've felt strong and powerful 99% of the time for a year.
If you're feeling bad one day try and affect your circumstances to improve them the next. The most important thing I've learned is a reflection of that- If you're feeling good one day try and ensure that nothing that you can control can affect that tomorrow.
If you feel that you can't change your mood, try and affect someone else's in a positive way. It might seem simple but it's an amazing technique and often it's enough to make your mind snap back to a comfortable state.
Now is not the time
And you're not alone
Shut up about it
No one can bring you down now
Stay Strong.
Over and Outroversion.
Lewis Watson
Opening with a Skinny Love cover with a simple spotlight on his back and from what I can tell, a "trademark" bobble hat, Oxford's Lewis Watson regaled an already healthy looking audience with half a dozen or so songs; some his own and some from his
upcoming debut EP. I should mention at this point that Watson is quite well known for his covers and with that his original and
mainstream tv exploiting approach to them.
Controlled and clear in voice and with a textbook less approach to guitar playing, sure there were a few mistakes but even early days in his own catalogue he's got a ridiculously strong following (15k twitter followers) and while popular covers can be an attraction I'd suggest a lot of interest is in the potential on show here. I think his may be a journey worth being a part of.
Boat to Row
A five piece from Birmingham that thankfully you can't tell are from there. With a vocal style similar to Colin Meloy of the Decemberists, Michael King delivers each song with an understated passion. A fundamentally likeable band with a musical understanding of each other leading to a professional and engaging performance.
Markedly individual songs from a genre with many potential pitfalls, BTR keep away from these well with a driving rhythm andfocused instrumentation rather than folk for folk's sake. These are poignantly worded, well constructed songs with good time musical interludes to take away from their potentially heavy nature. These guys are easy to listen to and not so insistent that you love them right now but have a self assurance in their music that you will in time.
Dog is dead
Going to see a band to see one or two songs probably isn't the worst thing anyone's ever done. However I think anyone approaching this gig with that mindset will have been blown away by the plethora of great music for them to get their... ears into.
Dog is dead of course, on the back of a glorious festival season in 2009 were featured in Skins and, like many others before then having gained popularity through a mainstream medium have had to spend their time reminding people that they have other songs. Other glorious songs, other wonderful endorphin inducing songs.
From the opening of the set, without prior knowledge you'd be hard pushed to pigeon hole these Nottingham boys. Introducing themselves with a dark, metal opening and following with an almost chillwave offering but the harmonies are still there and pretty soon Trev's brass is thrust to the forefront of attention.
The outstanding Talk through the Night is another highlight of a great set with expected adulation for Young and with the surprise omission of Zoo but of course the euphoria is reserved for the Glockenspiel Song. One danger of seeing Dog is Dead is that they'll be stuck in your head for days afterwards but there's worse things to have in there.
As far as indoor festivals go, Dot to Dot is the best. No question about it. You want queues, high prices, inconvenience and illogical organisation then sure, go to Camden Crawl.
Anyway yesterday the first few bands for this year's Nottingham, Bristol and Manchester festivals were announced and as ever it looks like being spectacular.
The festival whose previous line ups included Cribs, Mumford and Sons, Florence and the Machine and Marina and the Diamonds in the early flourishes of their now inconceivable careers present the following:
C0-headlinering there is surf rock with The Drums and one of the best live acts in the game; Pulled Apart By Horses.
Elsewhere, U.S troubadour Willy Mason, the spectacular Dog is Dead, the blissful Summer Camp and the secret to Bombay Bicycle Club's recent success (maybe)- Lucy Rose.
As far as new bands the cities will be welcoming Kyla La Grange, Deaf Club, Ryan Keen, Broken Hands, Dirty Goods, Pearl & The Beard, ThePETEBOX, Vadoinmessico as well as the Wonder Villains.
More to Come
COMING SOON!
(Uploading began 12.30pm GMT)
Outroversion Presents: SXSW 2012
(83 files, 465MB)
Featuring: Eve 6, Go Radio, Michelle Armstrong, Squarehead, Chappo, Said the Whale, Adam WarRock, The Drums, Priory, He's my Brother She's My Sister, Teeth and Tongue, Saint Motel, Library Voices, Marcus Foster, French Wives, Brite Futures, Tiago Lorc, You say France & I Whistle, Cold Showers, ANR, The Belle Brigade, The Skies Revolt, Chris T-T, Not in the Face, Turbogeist, Soft White Sixties, Sahara Smith, Ambition, Hatcham Social, Lights, Dirty Karma, Biters, Fenster, Tommy Stinson, Acollective, V for Volume, Random, No, The Drowning Men, Ganglian, Guns of Navarone, Foam Lake, Lo-Pan, Ape Machine, Dinosaur Feathers, Sugar and the hi and lows, Erin Ivey and the Finest Kind, Sparkadia, Team Me, Strange Familiar, Uncle Bad Touch, Great Big Pile of Leaves, Wonder Villians, Frontier Brothers, Carrie Elkin, Blitzen Trapper, Abandoned Pools. Toguna, Cannon Bros, Jesse Dangerously, Larkin Poe, Lynhurst, Bare Wires, Sons of Bill, Brick+ Mortar, Act Rights, Tribes, Hoodie Allen, 3rd Line Butterfly, Sarah Jaffe, Solander, Alabama Shakes, My Best Friend, GoZu, Folk Family Revival, Sonic Avenues, The Lovely Bad Things, American Secretsr, Pint Shot Riot, Alberta Cross, Jordan Cook, Wonfu, Low Rider.
This morning 2000 Trees announced a gluttony of great bands that will be playing their 6th birthday. Already on the bill were 65daysofstatic, Pulled Apart By Horses, Rolo Tomassi, The Xcerts and Johnny Foreigner which in itself would have made for a great weekend, however as has been shown annually at the Gloucester based bash the organisers aren't ones to rest on their laurels.
So now we're looking at a line up which also boasts the infamous Gallows, the brilliant Dog is Dead, the Scottish We Were Promised Jetpacks and the marvelous up and coming local outfit Harbour. Additionally announced today were Sharks, Spycatcher, The Computers, Max Raptor, Gallops, Zico Chain, Bastions, Hymns, Rosa Valle and Andy Oliveri.
"The most compelling of all summer festivals for, by its very nature it is everything you’d want a music festival to be- beautiful surroundings, welcoming and intimate atmosphere without being small fry, great toilets and great food which is fine some do come close. However, the vital thing is, 2000 trees also manages every year without fail to have the most impressive line ups around. This year, as has come to be expected; is no exception..." ~ Outroversion February 2012
Dog is Dead
We Were Promised Jetpacks
