WOMAD, Charlton Park July 2013 Photos

A selection of photographs taken at WOMAD festival, Charlton Park July 26th-28th 2013

From Mali, the Tuareg Tamikrest

Max Romeo

Lee "Sctratch" Perry

Seun Kuti

Throat singing from Tuva, Huun Huur Tu

Psychedelic rock from Canterbury  Syd Arthur

Sam Lee

The procession

Tiny Tea Tent

Gilberto Gil

Yours truly in festival shirt and hat

Lucy T at the open mic

United Ghosts album review

For this particular writer, any band that cites its’ influences as shoegaze, psychedelia and krautrock has attracted the attention from the outset. Originating from California, this is the first full length release from United Ghosts on Tambourine Girl Records. Can the band really amalgamate shoegaze, psychedelia and krautrock into a fully cohesive sound? Surely influences such as those are in danger of producing pedestrian pop, albeit with an edge? Thankfully “United Ghosts” allays any fears and instead delivers ten arrangements of unadulterated joyfulness and spirituality. The key sound is achieved somewhat by the dual vocals of Sha Sabi and Axel Steuerwald who create an almost wraithlike eminence layered upon luscious tunes. “United Ghosts” is a collection of tunes that are immediately accessible on first play, that is not to say they lack depth or authority simply that they are striking to the ears from the offset. Certainly not music to gaze at shoes, more music to gaze at the sky.

The opening ‘Echo Lake’ leisurely throbs onward over dreamlike keyboards and guitar lines, providing the perfect supplement to the ethereal vocals, whilst ‘Unhypnotized’ picks up the tempo slightly whilst losing none of that trademark wistfulness. There is certainly a sense, as the listener moves through the tracks on “United Ghosts”, that this could indeed be music from another era altogether. An almost sinister edge to the chord progression on ‘The Revolution Waiting’ takes the listener momentarily out of their previously established comfort zone. Krautrock credentials are fully recognised on the openings to ‘Modern Crime’ and ‘Holes into the Night’ which go on to develop into a delicious beds of inspirational noise, whilst ‘Sparkle and Fade’ soothes the mood with a restrained naivety...

Read the full piece here...

Bangladeafy "The Briefcase" EP review

Bangladeafy’s Facebook page describes the bands interests as,”…to always be a student”, which, as well as being a personal mission statement for this writer, is a perfect summing up of the music on “The Briefcase” EP. With musical influences cited as including John Entwistle, Jaco Pastorious, Stewart Copeland and the Beastie Boys, the music here will be hard to categorise, and is all the more agreeable for it.

Bangladeafy are essentially Jonny Germ on bass, vocals and keyboards andAtif Haq on drums who originate from New York and produce music of such joyous intensity that it is hard for the listener not to put down what they were doing and pay close attention. Imagine if you will a version of the band Lightning Bolt playing intricate passages that veer from free jazz to progressive rock via thrash metal and you can start to comprehend “The Briefcase”.

‘Fruit Flies’ features astonishingly complex lines and arrangements providing the framework for dazzlingly intense vocal. ‘Elixir’ and ‘Dumpster Fire’ continue on a similar theme, and without the vocals, showcases the density of the arrangements. Sound is manipulated and tortured on ‘Tubes’, before the listener is teased by what sounds like a familiar spaghetti western theme running through ‘Show Me the Gold’, an absolute tour de force of technical ability and passion.

The brevity of “The Briefcase” may be argued to be a disappointment for the listener who is now transfixed with the mischievousness of the music and the barrage of instrumentation on display. Reading this, the listener should not be put off “The Briefcase”, fearing it to be another collection of technically adept, but ultimately soulless, “mathcore” tunes. Exciting to listen to at home, but one must also wonder, how bracing to experience in the live context...

Read the full piece here...

Baroness - Live at Maida Vale BBC EP

For many committed music enthusiasts the name Maida Vale is synonymous with John Peel, Andy Kershaw, Janice Long, Zane Lowe and Friday Rock Show sessions and any other number of exclusive sessions recorded for Radio 1 shows. Studio MV1, one of seven spaces within the complex, is one of the largest recording studios currently operational in the UK. It has been used as a venue for recording numerous classical and popular music concerts and dramas, and from 1958 to 1998 it was the home of the legendary BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

In July 2012 Baroness entered the intimate studio 4 to record four tracks from their latest release “Yellow and Green”, and these interpretations are being made available as a limited 12” vinyl and digital release. Baroness has never been a band to retread old ground when it comes to releasing recorded material. It could be said that they have now replaced their hostile, sludgy sound with one of introspection.

Whatever the perspective, the session here opens with ‘Take My Bones Away’ which, to anyone familiar with the “Yellow and Green” version, is a gloriously vigorous riff and hook laden bombardment of the senses. No less riff and hook loaded is ‘March to the Sea’ whose majestic vocal and lead lines are subtly suggestive of the song title itself. More or less psychedelic in nature, ‘The Line Between’ carries the momentum instigated by the two previous tracks into a buoyant blend of thunderous percussion, high-spirited riffs, and grandiose vocals with elements that would not sound out of place on the live Pink Floyd “Ummagumma” material. ‘Cocainium’ builds elegantly into its final riff formation, and although no less prevailing overall, takes time to build into a closing upsurge....

Read the full review here...