It's been a while

Jings Crivens it's been a while. It's always a while actually, I used to post blogs regularly and now it seems to be very sporadically. I shall attribute that to a host of things, work being the main one. It's unreal how much time a band like Jiezuberband take up (might as well get the shameless plug out the way early) So here for your reading pleasure (or just your reading) is another blog straight from the mind and fingertips of yours truly. Mr Kenneth Bowman randomly popped up on my facebook and told me "finger oot" and to get a blog written.

 I heard through the grapevine recently that The Imagineers have come to the end of the road. Another one bites the dust as they say. It's one of those sad moments in music when such a prolific and talented band call it a day. Was it the level of commitment was too high? Was it just the right time to end the band? We'll never know the reasons but what we can take away from it is a back catalogue of unique tracks which will last a lifetime.

 Something else that's happened recently is the announcement of Freckfest. A festival in Irvine dedicated to Willie Freckleton the man who was responsible for bringing bands such as Oasis to this little town. I have to say, when it was announced that the festival was happening I got excited. It's about time Irvine had something of this scale, something that the locals can really get their teeth into. I have to say though that the caliber of acts who are performing isn't as high as it could be. There are some excellent artists on the line up including Sonic Templars, Dear Stars, Rose Parade, Culann The Magic Numbers and Sean Kennedy but in terms of an all weekend festival, it's rather disappointing. There are so many other great acts floating around at the moment who could have taken up some slots. I can think of 5 off of the top of my head who deserve a spot on that line up. Perhaps they didn't apply or maybe the organisers just didn't deem them fit enough. It's now no longer a festival I'll be in attendance at but I hope it goes well and that it does Willie proud.

 On another note, Kassidy are headlining the main stage at Live@Troon this year, I'm a fan of Kassidy so I was happy with that announcement. Hunter and the Bear as a support act though, I'm not sure about but I might be proved wrong (I doubt it)

 In the past, people have taken offence to this blog, whether it's written by myself or even a guest review by Kenny Maclean. Here's the thing I need to make clear, the thoughts on these pages are nothing more than our personal opinions and at no point do we expect anyone to use them as a reference point in day to day life.

 Did you know that 80% of statistics are made up and that the other 34% is real?

 Nonsense, that's all that last sentence was, just utter nonsense.

 I'm excited to be going back to Wales next weekend. We head down to Sonic Rock Solstice where Jiezuberband will be doing their thing and entertaining the masses. Come and join us afterwards, hang out and have a few beers. Talk to the nutbags and learn the inner workings of their mind.

 I promise I'll try and do more of these blogs, I will try and make some time for them.

 Happy Mr Bowman?

A Clockwork Marshmallow

What's it going to be then, eh?

There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, George, and Dim. Dim being really dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar making up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening, a flip dark chill winter bastard though dry.

These are the opening lines to Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, the tale of the ultimate anti-hero, young Alex. I’m assuming most people reading this will be familiar with the Book or Film but I’ll quickly summarise the plot for those who aren’t. It’s the story of Alex, leader of a teenage gang who is sent to prison after an act of ‘Ultraviolence’. Alex is reformed after serving only two years of his sentence using a controversial new technique rendering him unable to experience violence in any form without feeling a great sickness. Upon his release he is used as a political pawn…..wait a second, why am I reviewing A Clockwork Orange? A nice young lad from a small town in New York State called Connor Thoutte has sent me a track to review so let’s get to it.

Connor Thouttle is an acoustic singer songwriter from the small town of Liverpool, New York. His music is strongly influenced by the works of Jack Johnson and John Mayer, in other words Soppy Marshmallow Music. Connor has released two Albums to date, 2009’s Sunblind and his latest effort Caught Between Summers, from which I’m reviewing the title track of the same name.

The song Caught Between Summers is a kind of melancholic ‘I understand you under confident but beautiful girl with complex emotions’ ramble, which opens with the lines

There’s something wrong my dear friend,

Looks like you just got back from the Doctors again

There’s something that you mean to say

The good lord he is on his way.

Oh dear, a religious cancer song, not what I’m in the mood for on a Sunday morning. I was tempted to leave the review at that but to be fair to Connor I thought I would try and be a bit more objective. After all I think Connor’s target audience are a bit younger and more feminine than your humble narrator.

In trying to listen as a Teenage girl I see what Connor is trying to do here with his subtle emotional manipulation. You can imagine the scenario in which he would profess these emotionally exuberant lyrics. Connor sits by himself at a High school Prom looking into the distance with his spongy little gumdrop eyes. The girl he’s been lusting over in Biology for the last 4 years comes over and asks Connor ‘what’s wrong’. He opens up his heart about his best friend who has cancer, they then sit and talk about emotions all night and she realises that there is more to this little science geek than she thought. Later on after a few drinks they go back to Connor’s bedroom, sitting staring into each others eyes, they slowly undress each other, She runs her fingers through his marshmallow hair, Kisses his marshmallow chest, then Connor pull’s out his little flump tadger and with a mixture of horror and disappointment, she laughs in his face. It’s at this point marshmallow boy cry’s tears of hot chocolate and slowly melts into a pile of sticky goop. As she walks home, confused at Connors demise, she bumps into Alex and his droogs. Well, Well, Well. And they give that fine Devotchka the old in out real horrorshow, right right.

So what’s the point of all this Chepooka, well we have Connor and Alex, the two extremes of the teenage male archetype, Alex the ultraviolent sociopath and Connor the Christian goody goody. Connor’s music is clean cut, fresh sounding, his lyrics are well structured and intelligent and he is a talented singer, but he needs a little Alex to add some, as Roland Barthes might say, Grain to his voice. Maniac Alex spots something he wants and almost without thinking will take it, relying on his natural adolescent charm and charisma to see him through the consequences. It’s that immediacy and honesty that Connor needs to explore so he can rise above the thousands of other boring Marshmallow Men. There’s nothing wrong with wistful observation, it’s the ultimate Mallow trope, but sometimes you have to say Fuck through gritted teeth.

To summarise Connor is a talented singer from a small American town and I guess Caught Between Summers is a listenable tune. If he went on American Idol armed with his cancer story he may very well get passed the first few rounds. They may even create an emotional montage of him with Coldplay playing in the background. But I find his music frustrating. Every teenage boy has the Connor/Alex dialectic inside them, there is nothing wrong with letting that ‘Ultraviolet’ side out once in a while, it’s the fight between these two sides that creates the teenage angst found in all of my favourite adolescent observational music. Let’s hear the real you next time Connor.

One last thing, I think Connor sent me this in the hope of a quote for his press pack so what the fuck,

Connor is the new Bob Dylan, a future Rock and Roll hall of Famer without question

Kenny Maclean, UUC. 


 

Sleazy Vultures & CHAOS!

It has been a while since any reviews have been posted here, mainly because over at UUC Management things have been incredibly hectic. No time to breathe but alas we have managed to get back on the ball with reviews. Last night I sent Sam along to see Chaos! at Ivory Blacks.

It’s been a while since I’ve done a review but I’m glad I got assigned this one, firstly I can say the night started off pretty wild with a country/rock band up front, I know it sounds crazy but they were probably one of the best on tonight. Anyway onto the review, up on the stage comes Sleazy Vultures, the guitarist with his SG, bassist with his Jaguar and they all look pretty serious. And with that they’re off, they have a particular warm tone. After playing the same chord for over a minute they kick into the song which… has the same chord playing still. Finally after a painful introduction they start the song. They have pretty decent stage coordination and have some heavy punk influences, I’m not very impressed with these lot and the singer could use a few singing lessons. Their second song grabs my attention a lot more with a synth playing through the guitar, but sadly this is ruined by a thrashing pre-verse that completely negates anything they did at the start. They claim the next song is a dancing song, I hope they’re right as enthusiasm drains from the crowd. They reclaim some respect as this song is a much better improvement, although still very much the same song as the others. The bass solo is absolutely amazing though, I have to give it to him; he knows how to slap that bass! The last song they did redeemed their pride, a whopping finish to a poor set.

Next up is Chaos! And I’m anxious to see the light. I tell you this gig has been so rocky I need a bloody pickaxe. But dear lord it’s starting and so far so good on the intro and it seems to keep getting better. Innovative guitar lines, heavy bass lines, from the start I could see that this band has talent. As their first song finishes I look forward to everything else on the menu. Their second song reminds me of Avenged Sevenfold, being my favourite band they really sparked my interest. The guitar solo progresses, what it lacks in complexity it makes up in melody. My favourite part of this song was definitely the solo/bridge following onto a smashing chorus. The only real criticism I could give CHAOS! is that they need a drummer,  if they can still create that same sound with a drummer, they will definitely have a future in this industry. The crowd claps their hands to the beats while others mosh around the room. The energy is definitely fixed on them throughout the set. All in all they were the best band there tonight, they had the best sound, melody and ideas, the other bands were just copying old tracks but Chaos! were the only ones who really shone out of the crowd. After their last song finished the crowd simmered down and everyone started packing up. A good end to a just about awesome night! If anyone is reading this and likes hard rock/metal music then I highly recommend going to see Chaos live in performance.

Landed Festival

So the festival season has officially started. I love festivals, it's a chance to hear some great music and meet some truly amazing people that you probably wouldn't meet in everyday life. This weekend myself and the mighty Jiezuberband traveled down to Llandrindod Wells in Wales for Landed Festival. I have to say I've to many festivals in my life but the atmosphere at this one was just off the hook.

Jiezuberband took to the stage on Saturday and as usual they nailed it. They played a set that had something for everyone, but that's what they do and that's what makes these guys so special. For the rest of the weekend people just kept saying how much they loved the band and it's no surprise. My favourite quote however came from a man named Spartacus who approached John and myself on Sunday afternoon whilst trying to drag our arses through a field, he said that Jiezuberband were like "Aliens had beamed down from another planet to show us a new amazing way of life" and it's true.

I managed to catch a few other bands in between drinking copious amounts of alcohol in the beer tent, annoying the security guys and introducing myself to every single person that I walked by. Bombskare from Edinburgh were down there as well and I loved their set, they finished the weekend off perfectly for music. Land of Giants were also fantastic, two bands who you should definitely go and check out.

I remember telling everyone we met that "we're Scottish, we'll show you how to party" and I think we stuck to our word. I honestly think if I was to write a blog about the entire weekend then I would be here for days and it would take you days to read it.

Trying to get the Welsh to understand that we use the word C**t as a full stop and not as an actual insult was pretty easy as well.
All I'm going to say is that I will definitely be back down next year and from a personal point of view it's possibly one of the best festivals I've been at. 

I've also been told I actually done some work AND it was caught on camera which is a bonus. 16 hours there and back in a vehicle surrounded by what felt like half a warehouse and getting cramp was worth it. I'm looking forward to being back in Wales for Sonic Rock Solstice on June 21st. 

The Comic

I just finished my new column for the Irvine Herald. It's great having an extra avenue to get your thoughts out there where people will read them. I love doing the blog, it seems like so long ago since I started it and the amount of views it has had is unbelievable.

I can't believe it's only 24 days until the big Jiezuberband/Preacher show at the o2 abc1. Tickets have sold so quickly and it's going to be an absolutely amazing night. There are still a few tickets left, so head over to www.uucmanagement.com or www.jiezuberband.com to get yours if you haven't got them already.

Another bit of exciting news is that this morning I got the front cover for the Jiezuberband Comic. Finally those six nutters are going to be immortalized in comic form. It will be a downloadable comic to start with, but who knows where it will lead. The plan is to have the first edition released on the 26th of April.

Wrestlemania is a mere 4 days away and I can't wait. Tomorrow I jump on a plane and bugger off to New York/New Jersey and then on Sunday I get to be in attendance at the "Granddaddy of them all" Undertaker/Punk is the one that I'm really looking forward to. I have a feeling that Rock/Cena is going to be the last match and to be honest, if it is I doubt I'll stay in the stadium long enough to watch it.

"Lost"

You know, it's not often a great TV show passes me by. For some reason however I never watched "Lost" when it was first aired. When it started being shown over here I was staying in Switzerland, so I missed the first season, after that I just never got the chance to sit down and watch it. Of course Facebook was always covered in status updates about what was happening and that threw me off a bit. I thought why would I watch a TV show about Polar Bears, Hatches and people being all dead. I shouldn't have listened to people (a lesson I always learn and then forget) because it's so much more than that. Also, why people have this belief that they were all dead for the whole show is beyond me, they're really not. Everything that happens on the Island was real.

I just finished watching all 6 Seasons in a marathon effort to watch them, it was a case of the old "one more episode then bed.......oh shit it's 8am" and I have to say I'm obsessed now. I'm a massive Doctor Who fan and I don't think anything will ever take over as my favourite show, but "Lost" has come so close.

I loved everything about it, the relationships, the sci-fi element the flas-hbacks, the flash-forwards and the flash-sideways. I loved when Desmond showed up and it was a complete mind fuck after we knew he had met Jack before. Every element about this show was absolutely outstanding.

Some people talk about the Finale and they say that they're disappointed or upset with it, I don't understand why. Sure a lot of things were left unanswered but surely that's a good thing. The problem with Finale's is that they never live up to expectation. We build them up in our heads so much that when they are shown, we're never happy. The "Lost" finale, in my opinion, was one of the best, if not the best finale ever.

I don't know what I'm supposed to start watching next, "Lost" was a show that I hadn't gotten around to watching and then this year I decided to catch up on everything I missed. I watched "Continuum" "FlashForward" "Alcatraz" and a load of other shows but "Lost" was one that I put off until I knew I could sit and enjoy it and by hell I enjoyed it. I was only 9 years behind everyone else in watching it, but you know what? I don't care, it was worth the wait. Even though I thought I knew what it was all about, I was so wrong. If we take "Doctor Who" out of the equation I think it's safe to say that this was the best TV show ever made.

I'm now going to back and watch it all again.

"86"

They say that patience is a virtue and I suppose in some cases that could be true, however in the music world patience doesn't exist. It seems like forever and a day since I reviewed the last Stonehouse Violets release and as anyone who had a swatch at that review will know I was fairly impressed with it. I've been aching to get my hands on some new material from the guys for months so when it finally arrived I couldn't wait to get the speakers cracked up and the sub-woofer as high as I could (who gives a fuck about neighbours eh?)

The new EP from SHV "86" takes a slightly different direction from previous material, it's more hard hitting and has more of a "finished" feel. That's not to say that what the band were producing earlier felt in any way weaker, not at all. It's quite clear that the band are progressing at a rate of knots and instead of taking those tentative baby steps that most musicians take Stonehouse Violets are approaching music as if they're the first people to land on the moon. They're oozing this "Look at us, we're doing it and fuck you" mentality and it works so well for them. Albert Schweitzer once said "The only escape from the miseries of life are music and cats"  I'm pretty sure if he were around right now that could possibly read "The only escape from the miseries of life are Stonehouse Violets and cats"

The new four track EP is crafted in such a way, that for me, each track builds on the last."Saviour" opens up the EP and it's a nice simple but pleasant introduction to the band. There's nothing particularly special about this track and there doesn't need to be, it does it's job. It's an opener and it's an opener which leads into three other tracks that are masterfully crafted together. 

"SOS" "Empty Spaces" and "Leaves will Fall" all bring their own thing to an EP that is a strong outing from the word go. There's hints of 'The Dismemberment Plan' and 'Clap your hands say yeah' coming through at certain points but I think it's safe to say that it's all Stonehouse Violets. The band have no doubt found a sound that really works for them and it's just brilliant to sit and listen to the hard work that's gone into the music. The music isn't over labyrinthine, there's nothing overly complex because they don't need it. Personally I can't get enough of "Empty Spaces" it's so powerful and leaves a wondrous after taste in your ears. 

Art has Picasso, Movies have Stanley Kubrick and Music has Stonehouse Violets.

You can grab a copy of the EP "86" for the bargain of £4 just head over to http://stonehouseviolets.bandcamp.com/album/86