R2OK!

Cherskiy

Another weekend goes by and so does another excellent Bob Harris Saturday Show. Plenty of new music for me to review this week, plus new artists too numerous to mention here. Yvonne Lyon provided the live session in the middle hour, more on her later. Congratulations to Bob for helping to promote some of the new and recently emerging UK singer-songwriters.

Mexican Institute of Sound was the first new name for me tonight – their shortly-to-be-released album “Pinata” yielding the track “Para No Vivir Desesparado”. The cover of the CD features a distinctly un-Mexican scene but the music doesn’t fail in the geographical stakes, Latin American techno beats and lyrics vying for attention here. Ultimately, though, for me it was a bit of a let down – Carlos Santana does this sort of thing much better in his later albums. Bob loved it, mind you.
There was more from Seasick Steve and the Level Devils this week, Bob playing “It’s All Good” from their album of the same name. This former down-and-out and his band provided some rather brilliant ‘hobo blues’ – nothing hugely technical in the execution but just plenty of feeling, almost like you were sitting in on one of their jam sessions.
Wilco’s album “Sky Blue Sky” has already featured on the show this year, but Bob gave it some more exposure by playing “Either Way”. Included on their sixth studio album, this track is indicative of the mellower sound of this release compared to their previous material. It’s almost introspective and self-searching, but best of all it is quite pleasant listening without being too demanding.
Grand Drive proved to be the second new name – “Skin You’re Living In” came from their forthcoming album “Everyone”. Danny and Julian Wilson provided some pleasant harmonies here among the bitter-sweet lyrics and gentle alt-country arrangements – although they’re English. They appear to have released six albums prior to this one – if the previous ones include anything like this track then they’ll be worth listening to. The vocals could be described as almost ‘Bob Dylan-lite’ (you’d probably have to hear yourselves to understand what I’m on about) but that isn’t really a bad thing here.
One of the best acts in recent months that hasn’t exactly set the world on fire is Simon Aldred, or to use his stage name, Cherry Ghost: for all the airplay he’s achieved this year, it still seems like he has yet to really make that final push. His album “Thirst For Romance” contained the excellent “Mathematics”, which did get some exposure, and also the track “4am”, which Bob played tonight. Lovely, without trying too hard. And why ‘Cherry Ghost’? He’s a big fan of Wilco (qv) – one of their tracks includes the words ‘Cherry Ghost’.
It’s a while since Bob played anything from Catherine Feeny’s album “Hurricane Glass”. “Hush Now” provides an example of her almost Nerina Pallot-like vocals, but there’s enough here for the artist to stand on her own without reference to others. She has a soothing, gentle voice and the song itself is sublime. This, her second album (from last year), has just been re-released to coincide with the release of her new single “Touch Back Down”. She was apparently in session on Kermit’s show last Saturday, so I’ll bite the bullet and ‘listen again’ to that before the end of the week.
Guggenheim Grotto received another airing tonight, “Rosanna” being taken from their shortly-to-be-released “Walzing Alone” album. I suspect BB would like this as it reminds me a little of Gordon Lightfoot. There’s minimal accompaniment, which allow the clear yet soothing vocals to dominate: this song wears the ‘folk’ tag on its sleeves but is really good – and is therefore, a candidate for mainstream R2 play. It’ll never happen, though, as long as some turn their noses down at the mere mention of folk and acoustic music.
Midlake’s “Trials of Van Occupanther” also had a repeat playing tonight, “Head Home” delivering a likeable if not immediately memorable few minutes of musical bliss. Try as I might, I can’t really put my finger on the reason why I like this. It seems to be a mishmash of various styles at times (the prog-rock-like guitar break, for example) but overall the end result appears to work.
The newly-released album by Crowded House, “Time on Earth”, started life as another Neil Finn solo project but became a reunion after bass player Neil Seymour joined the sessions. “She Called Up” features all of the elements that make a Crowded House song so wonderful, although Neil Finn seems to be a little subdued here.
Another new name for me was B C Camplight, whose recently-released album “Blink of a Nihilist” yielded “Lord, I’ve Been on Fire”. Quirky would be one word to describe this song – it shares many of the qualities you’d find on a Sufjan Stevens track (and even the CD cover artwork seems to be similar), an uplifting, bouncy piece of music which ends with the artist laughing out loud and shouting ‘Ridiculous” – I kid you not! Reading that Camplight has had frequent run-ins with mental illness may explain a lot of what is going on here – there appears to be a fine line between madness and genius.
So to Kendel Carson, who I’d never heard of before either. Her debut (double) album “Rearview Mirror Tears” is, from the reviews I’ve read since hearing her on Bob’s show, appears to be the work of someone much more mature than this 22-year old Canadian, although she’s apparently been in various bands since the age of nine. I loved “I Like Trucks” straight from the get-go – although it’s a fairly simple song in the Gretchen Wilson “Redneck Woman” or Alan Jackson “Five O’clock Somewhere”-mould lyrics-wise, it’s executed with a sense of fun in a pseudo-live setting with fiddle and cat-call accompaniment - and there are plenty of reasons to start singing along before the end of the second verse. “Redneck Woman” got plenty of airplay – possibly due to Johnny Walker – this deserves an equal slice of exposure! My only criticism is that the production here doesn’t bring her voice to the fore enough. BTW, did I say I liked it?

So to the live session, provided by Yvonne Lyon, ably assisted by her husband David. They plunged straight into the first song, “Colours”, which was simply lovely. An accomplished Scots acoustic singer-songwriter who has supported the likes of Karine Polwart and Patty Griffin, her soft vocals came across here very well with only minimal guitar and piano for backing. This track is the opening one on her 2005 album “Fearless” – the second full release (with an EP in between). Her recordings are home-spun and were, as she puts it, ‘a real learning curve’ and ‘a real roller-coaster’. A little bit of ‘jiggery-pokery’ (i.e. movement in the studio!) was required for the next song, “Everything’s Fine”, which is new and will feature on her third album which will be released later this year. It was written whilst she was stopped at a set of traffic lights in Greenock – she saw a young girl walking across the crossing who had ‘difficulties’ and Yvonne wrote the song with her in mind, the words pouring out once she got home. This track sees her voice take on a stronger, more assertive edge, yet the qualities that made the first song so good are still present here. “Come” was the last of her three live songs, also the last track on “Fearless”. It was written about her grandmother and another change in vocal style occurred, this time her voice taking on a more introspective, more emotional lilt. Three beautiful songs from someone who I have heard of but nothing beyond what Bob had mentioned in the past when introducing her tracks on his show. I have every intention of buying at least one of her albums before the end of the month.

So to another former live session provider on this show, namely Brian Houston, whose cover of “Days of Pearly Spencer” wasn’t too bad either – a quicker-paced version than that of Mark Almond’s from years ago. It is released towards the end of July and will no doubt end up on regular R2 airplay.
Jackson Browne’s third album was 1974’s “Late for the Sky”, and the last track on this release, “Before the Deluge”, was virtually a portent of what we now call global warming. Arguably one of the most under-rated singer-songwriters of the period, this particular track provides a good example of just how good his voice and his lyrics were – rich, luxurious vocals and harmonies, plus gentle fiddle accompaniment, which comes into its own towards the end of the song.
Mississippi Charles Bevel isn’t exactly a household name, but maybe it should be, given the excellent displayed on “Overheard”, from the album “Meet Mississippi Charles Bevel”. There’s obviously something special going on here (its clearly blues influenced) but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Dating from 1972, no less, and Bob’s vinyl selection of the night.
Guitarist Jeff Lang followed with “Alive in There” from his recently released album “Whatever Makes You Happy”, with the additional input from a harpist providing an interesting contrast. The song simply drips deep south vibes: it could have been recorded in a shack on a bayou for all I know. Slow-paced, surely, but still a great performance from a rather prolific artist – at least ten solo releases and plenty of collaborations.
Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles was yet another new name. “Diamonds in the Dark” provided “Come to Me”, which also included the title of the album as a line in the lyrics. This song is a cover of an old song by LA punk band “X”, which may strike some as an odd choice for a singer clearly entrenched in the roots movement but she has included a smattering of diverse covers on this, her second album. Nothing startling here, it must be said – possibly even a little emotionless at times.
Seventeen Evergreen enjoyed another deserved outing this week, “Burn the Fruit” being lifted from this Californian outfit’s “Lunar One” EP. A soothing, relaxing intro slides into equally laid-back vocals from Caleb Pate and Nephi Evans. The multi-layered percussion break almost reminds me of the Vangelis soundtrack from “Blade Runner” at times.
This nicely led into “A Rainbow in Curved Air”, from the album of the same name by Terry Riley. Dating back to 1971, this was electronic music in its infancy, ambient music before such a thing was given a title. Bob only played a small snatch of the ‘song’- which lasted the entire side of the original release. Bob thought the Seventeen Evergreen track reminded him of this, and I have to agree.
The Editors also got a repeat playing this weekend, Tom Smith still sounding dirge-like on “Push Your Head Towards the Air”, taken from the “An End Has A Start” album. This is the third track I’ve now heard and he sounds exactly the same on each one – no change in emphasis, tone or speed. Am I the only one who can see past the hype?
Yet another new name was Guster, although “Ganging Up On the Sun” is the fifth album from this American band. “One Man Wrecking Machine” wasn’t too bad – whilst it was never going to break the mould it did everything right without really excelling anywhere. A bit of oomph in the harmonies and they could start to rival the likes of the Fountains of Wayne, in terms of music and lyrics – Bob mentioned the latter in comparison after I’d typed that last bit! Still, pleasant enough and worth a repeat listen some time.
The last track of the show came courtesy of Jimmy LaFave, another new name to remember. “Car Outside” was taken from his recently-released album “Cimarron Manifesto”, and was a great slice of blue collar heartland music, although on this track he played second fiddle to Kacy Crowley’s sharp-tinged vocals (I thought her voice sounded familiar before Bob announced who it was, but then again, I have her album “Anchorless”!). I would have liked to hear what he sounded like a bit more, though. Having said that, this song is apparently No.1 in the current Americana chart so it must be pleasing plenty of people.

Sunny Sweeney was advertised as next week’s live performer – she’s already featured on Bob’s Thursday evening show a few times in recent memory. A victim of a timing cut made before Yvonne Lyon’s performance was Les Rita Mitsouko, a French duo. Maybe they’ll appear next week.
_________________
Author: “To the Ends of the Earth: A Snapshot of Aviation in North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992”
(Free to read via Kindle Unlimited)

gazmando · Joined: 15 Apr 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Huntingdon

Radio 2 used to play quite a bit of Grand Drive during the daytime.
It must have been about 5 years ago(l'm useless with dates so don't quote me on that) and I seem to remember them having a sort of sweet new country sound.
I'm sure they were being given daytime airplay at around the same time as David Mead and The Thorns whose albums I bought and liked(especially the Thorns), are they both still going? as I haven't heard anything from them recently.

Lord Evan Elpuss · Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land

My first look at 'Seasick Steve' was on Jools Holland's Hootenany this new year's eve/day with his trademark battered three string guitar! Then I was advised that he had featured live on Rob da Bank's Radio 1 (yes you read rightly there!) show earlier this year, so that was a 'listen again' job skipping as much of the 'urban', rap etc that is normal R1 fare as possible to get to Seasick Steve's bits. Good to see his style of blues being presented to a younger generation (without wishing to sound too much like a grandfather figure here!) Then he was on Glastonbury where he played in the tent where Mark Radcliffe & Jo Whiley were presenting the BBC2 TV coverage. Good to see Bob Harris has discovered him. Perhaps his time is coming.
Camplight has been played a lot on Mark Radcliffe/Stuart Maconie show this week.
_________________
Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack.