Abi Rhodes' Zigzag Wanderings

Shitface Shakespeare

 

Shitface Shakespeare

The conceit for this gig is that the 6-actor company picks one of the bard's better known plays and reduces it to its bare bones modifying where necessary to make it fit the physical constraints of the space and cast and the intellectual constraints of a Festival audience, then selects one actor who must drink enough prior to the performance to become shitfaced as  their moniker suggests and see what happens. They also 'randomly' nominate a couple of audients to blow a kazoo and bang a gong when they think the piss-head needs an alcoholic top-up.

Tonight's production is A Midsummer Night's Dream and the selected actor is the young woman who portrays Helena. For purposes of authenticity, and I am pretty convinced, early arriving observers see her being helped into the theatre being propped and dragged by a couple of her colleagues.

Given that the idea has certain obvious limitations, I believe the producer did a passable job - the absence of Rude Mechanicals was a daring plot move with all the action being confined to the Lovers and one 'Fairy' - Puck, of course.

Without the application of more than a minute amount of brain-power, I know that you can work out the kind of mischief and mayhem the deadly combination of Testosterone, Oestrogen  and Alcohol induces in players and audience alike. Suffice to say that Shakespear's intentions are probably adequately portrayed if somewhat abridged.

I have to say that, taking the above considerations into account, I found the event very entertaining... perhaps, even hilarious. 

Related articles

Midsummer Night's Dreaming: the RSC takes a smattering of Google fairy dust

The Original Zig-Zag Wanderers

Tonite's gig by The Magic Band @ Concorde2 in Brighton had an early start because Friday Night Clubbin' had to begin shortly after 10 o'clock so arriving about 7.30 I only just saw the last few numbers by support band Son Belly and by their last I felt they seemed to be settling in nicely so I'd guess they'll be well worth seeing in their own right before too long.

The Magic Band led byDrumbo stormed on with I Got Dem old Human Gets Me Blues and follwed up with a pre-Safe as Milk Howling Wolf number whose title escapes me just now! They then dangled numbers from several LPs at least upto Doc at The Radar Station [a couple of numbers were either unknown to me or not placeable in myageing  memory so I can'r be sure none were newer than that!] Fitted in between were an absolutely stunning bass solo [when did you last hear a totally bass solo number?] and a drum two-hander with Drumbo cutting in on Craig Bunch and handing the stool back over, both changeovers being affected while the both drummed in unison - pretty impressive!

Half way through the gig the band took a break to enable audients to meet and greet - this is a feature more and more bands are doing this - a habit started as far as I know by the likes of Fairport Convention. In the second half they launched back in with the 'difficult' Hair Pie Bake 2, which they followed up with the more accessible Hair Pie Bake 1 - nothing like getting the problematic ones outta the way first! They cruised on through with more numbers from the spectrum of The Don's output climaxing with Moonlight on Vermont and Big-Eyed Beans from Venus - both showstoppers and probably two of a half dozen or so of The Cap's most well-known numbers. Members of the band were rewarded when a [female] member of the crowd leapt up on stage and showed her appreciation.

Sadly the afforementioned Curfew prevented the Audience getting the Electricity or any other of the many titles I heard being shouted out Muvch foot-stomping, rhythmic chanting, clapping, whistling, etc all came to no avail and we ventured out into the night, with much muttering of fuck the dj!

If The Magic Band is touring anywhere near you and you have the dosh to afford the ticket price, I'd say you'd be foolish to pass over the opportunity - you'll not see anything like it anywhere else.

The Original Zig-Zag Wanderers

Tonite's gig by The Magic Band @ Concorde2 in Brighton had an early start because Friday Night Clubbin' had to begin shortly after 10 o'clock so arriving about 7.30 I only just saw the last few numbers by support band Son Belly and by their last I felt they seemed to be settling in nicely so I'd guess they'll be well worth seeing in their own right before too long.

The Magic Band led byDrumbo stormed on with I Got Dem old Human Gets Me Blues and follwed up with a pre-Safe as Milk Howling Wolf number whose title escapes me just now! They then dangled numbers from several LPs at least upto Doc at The Radar Station [a couple of numbers were either unknown to me or not placeable in myageing  memory so I can'r be sure none were newer than that!] Fitted in between were an absolutely stunning bass solo [when did you last hear a totally bass solo number?] and a drum two-hander with Drumbo cutting in on Craig Bunch and handing the stool back over, both changeovers being affected while the both drummed in unison - pretty impressive!

Half way through the gig the band took a break to enable audients to meet and greet - this is a feature more and more bands are doing this - a habit started as far as I know by the likes of Fairport Convention. In the second half they launched back in with the 'difficult' Hair Pie Bake 2, which they followed up with the more accessible Hair Pie Bake 1 - nothing like getting the problematic ones outta the way first! They cruised on through with more numbers from the spectrum of The Don's output climaxing with Moonlight on Vermont and Big-Eyed Beans from Venus - both showstoppers and probably two of a half dozen or so of The Cap's most well-known numbers. Members of the band were rewarded when a [female] member of the crowd leapt up on stage and showed her appreciation.

Sadly the afforementioned Curfew prevented the Audience getting the Electricity or any other of the many titles I heard being shouted out Muvch foot-stomping, rhythmic chanting, clapping, whistling, etc all came to no avail and we ventured out into the night, with much muttering of fuck the dj!

If The Magic Band is touring anywhere near you and you have the dosh to afford the ticket price, I'd say you'd be foolish to pass over the opportunity - you'll not see anything like it anywhere else.

Review of “The $100 Guitar Project”

http://www.100dollarguitar.com/

 

http://www.100dollarguitar.com/

 

 

 

Ok – you know I like ‘concept’ albums… So here’s one that goes off in a pretty original direction. Briefly A guitarist finds an old guitar of unknown origin in a junk shop and buys it, cleans it up a bit and sends it on a trip around the Universe via 60-something guitarists to play about with, compose and record an appropriate piece for the instrument, sign the instrument and pass it on to next axe[wo]man… For the full conceit go to one of the above websites for clarity and to stop me reinventing the wheel  story.

 

Well the result is very interesting and somewhat entertaining double CD that I think will take years to listen, consider and come to any worthwhile conclusion so my assessment now is very much a [brain]work in progress…

 

I have to say that many of the guitarists featured are unknown to me which is a pretty useful thing because I enter most of the tracks without much expectation of what I’m about to hear. For those who set out dubious about the concept itself there’s a rousing metal anthem to kick off the show and grab your attention – thereafter the programming seems a bit random, maybe a little awry even, taking in hard rock, country, bluegrass, classical, minimalist, world, ambient, musique concrete, etc., etc., etc… as you might imagine and this must have been HELL itself to put into an even flowing sort of playing order but as I listen and relisten , I look forward to seeing whether it eventually makes any sort of sense, other than seeming clash after clash really making one sit up and beg for mercy think!

So my immediate assessment is… very interesting indeed, leaving one want to create links or reprogramming in one’s head, or just play individual tracks over [and over] again to make sense of them or enjoy according to where one’s brain is at the time! The only avenue not explored as far as my mind can stretch is that there’s no version of Cage’s 4’33” here – perhaps Mike Batt’s problems with such a thing deterred the creators from such an experiment!

I’m really, really keen to have this one in the car playing on shuffle thus trying out different playing orders and contrasting different tracks with each other….

In conclusion, this album is NOT for those who want their music to come easy for the purpose of relaxation etc. – it’s one for those who like a challenge and have wide musical tastes [ie real musos – not those who just think they like music] – in other words, it’s a masterpiece! Love it!

White-On Brighton!

This evening my good friend DJ Paul Wilson of the ‘Ears Wide Open’ programme on Radio Reverb called me and asked if I'd like to take up a spare ticket to see Matthew E White at the Audio bar down on the sea-front. My immediate reaction was [roughly translated] "Who He?" Paul informed me Matthew was a singer-songwriter  - really not the best label to throw at me. I looked outside and saw that it was still snowing but something told me to go anyway - little anticipating having to walk there and back [well I guess the 2 to 3 mile walk worked off a few of the thousand or so calories gained from a coupla pints of Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer!] due to the he lack of buses.

Happily we arrived just as the support band 'Interlocutor' were warming up. They had a line-up not unlike that of bands of the ilk of Groove Armada - a 9-piece consisting of keyboards, guitarists, bass, drums, keyboards, sax and trombone. They started off with a couple of numbers which demonstrated that they could certainly play their instruments developing very acceptable[if somewhat similar and repetitive] grooves - the most noteworthy features however were that they lacked anything that was an obvious lead instrument and the [as far as I could tell] unremarkable vocals were pretty well lost in the mix. If I heard him correctly the frontman/vocalist did say however he'd got the band together in a hurry and wrote a few songs expressly to wheedle his way into offering himself as the support act for this gig - if this was in fact true I think my otherwise harsh critique here becomes invalidated and he deserves a medal for bare-faced cheek and blind faith! As far as the Groove Armada comparison goes I think it might have been the edition sunk by Drake in the Channel - they never really reached those dizzy heights, but again if the the band was as unpractised as we were led to believe this is probably too critical. They were certainly pleasant enough but at this stage of their career the 5 or so numbers they played were probably just enough to stop them becoming boring. The last song was probably the best - they at last become somewhat animated and indicated where they might be heading in terms of musical direction - and that seemed to be a sort of sub-[there's another nautical reference] Neil Young blockbuster before he develops the appropriate guitar riff.

 

Moving on.... Matthew E White and his band took the stage to find themselves facing a huge audience. Now, Brighton is the home of so many really good bands and so many good venues that it's not uncommon to find even quite well-known names performing for nothing in front of a couple of dozen people - so quite where all these folk who seemed so well-informed about this band came from on such a dreadful night I'm sure I don't know. It was after the first song - a typical taking-the-stage, testing-out-the-sound-balance sort of number, that I at last found out something about them. They hail from Richmond, Virginia and this is their first gig outside the USA. Although I couldn't see too well the line-up seemed to consist of Matthew on lead guitar and vocals, drums, bass, [pedal-?] steel guitar and keyboards all of which were all competently played, gelling together very well indeed. The obvious points of reference for comparison would seem to me to be country-rock-blues bands from the 60s- 70s era such as The Band, The Byrds, a little nod to the Grateful Dead - maybe even Quicksilver Messenger Service.

Once again the first couple of songs left one unsure why one had bothered trudging through tempest, earthquake and tsunami on a Tuesday evening but suddenly what had been pedestrian black-and-white burst into glorious Wide-Screen Technicolor and all was well with the world once again. This, I believe, occurred when the musicians had started relaxing, maybe letting go of some of their jet-lag or whatever and stopped merely repeating the well-rehearsed tunes by rote and bending their playing to suit the situation and the crowd they were encountering. Next, they took the brave step of inviting the horns section from Interlocutor, who they'd never encountered before this evening to come and join in one number ... and hey! presto - it worked!

I finally found out where the singer-songwriter reference originated from. Apparently it's been quite widely trailed in the press the Matthew had a strong connection with Randy Newman to the extent that he'd actually stalked him at one stage - a story which doesn't quite hold much more water than a sieve - but I'll leave you to find out about that elsewhere.  Matthew did admit to having a lifelong admiration to the famed ditty-merchant and had tried to get in touch - not totally successfully. Anyway in the brief 2-song encore, the band did play one of Randy's tunes in his honour.

So an evening which started off with a deal of uncertainty about whether or not to go turned out to be a pretty-well unqualified success - very  entertaining, quite unexpectedly so and well worth the walk out in the cold wet winter night.

Thank you Paul, Thank you Matthew and Thank you Brighton!

 

 

Blues Extempore....

 

Just got back from the Ranelagh [if that's how you pronounce it] Pub in St James' Street, Kemp Town, near Brighton, where my old friend Matt Gest had been performing in its fine little Blues Club.

This was a rare solo appearance  - he normally does this type of gig with his Boogie-Woogie Troup] as a dry [and cold] run for his up-coming trip to perform in a blues festival on the Caribbean Island of Mustique.

Matt sang and played his electric piano/keyboard thingumijig - sometimes covering standards made famous by bluesmen of yesteryear in a variety of styles - boogie-woogie, barrelhouse, honky-tonk etc -and sometimes improvising and singing his own lyrics. He even kicked off a few numbers extemporising on a classical theme which he noodled around until he brang it round to a blues stylee - he really is a very versatile, virtuosic, often amusing and inventive musician.

If you're not fortunate enough to find yourself in the West Indies next week, be sure to watch out for Matt very soon somewhere in the UK 

Considerate Construction

to whomever it may concern...
2012 was the year of the skip and the year of the builder's van as far as Waldegrave Road was concerned.... Sometimes there were as many as 4 skips and upto a dozen vans within spitting distance of AbiRhodesCastle - creating tremendous parking problems during the day and difficulty in the late evening too - we sometimes had to park 2 streets away!
I'd hoped it had come to an end - but this morning a humongous skip was delivered just across the road from my next door neighbour. Luckily just 1 van at present but I fear worse is to come - the people who live in the house where the skip is probably think they have a dog-given right to park their n vehicles nearby too 
Big building projects nowadays tend to put up large notices telling us about Considerate Construction and do not leave skips and piles of building materials on the public highway and the pavement - when they do they are required to make arrangements for pedestrians etc
Small builders seem to have no such consideration for the inconvenience and problems they create and cause in their wake

So please....
If you are a small builder or sub-contractor please have a little... no - a lot more consideration for the neighbours of the folk you are working for - don't use a huge skip which occupies 3 parking spaces when a series of small ones will do the job equally well, and be aware that if your guys turn up in half a dozen vans which stand by doing nothing other than being in the way of others - why can't they all come to your depot or yard and be transported back and forth to the site they're working at. If you haven't got a yard or depot - then get one - OK, it might increase your overheads but at least you'll get a bit more respect from the people you're causing frustration to.
I know at least 3 firms I'd never invite to quote for a job - just because they've caused so much havoc and mayhem when they've been working locally in the past

The Island Jacks: Fly By Wire EP

 

 

 

Way back in the late 1960s – a lifetime ago – changes in pop/rock music were coming at us faster than the speed of sound. I guess this was somewhat commercially driven, but it’s also true that the proliferation of new technologies and philosophies and revised social, sexual, political and psychological norms were the main factors involved. There was an almost overwhelming to categorise music [as well as everything else] into genres and other forms of stereotype.

 

One such emerging musical category was the awkwardly named Soft Rock. I guess this was spawned by a movement towards purity and living free of artificial aids and dependence on technology. Hence the use of huge stacks of Marshall Amps was seen as reliant on industrial process and a never-ending supply of electricity – anathema to the Back To The Earth cult current among some [mainly] Hippie Tribes. You get the picture?

 

Be that as it may… some of the music included [by whom I’m not sure – music journalism’s social commentators, I guess -] in this category would have been the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers [in the ‘Turning Point’ phase] and America to name but three – so quite a wide variety of musical styles had some of its product forced into this particular round hole. I think Soft Rock’s usefulness was short-lived and the habit of its use, thankfully, soon died out – luckily some of the best music associated with the appellation didn’t.

 

Anyway, the point of all the foregoing is that the subject of this review, namely The Island Jacks’ Fly By Wire EP would be an excellent candidate for categorisation into the Soft Rock genre. I mean this in a totally positive way. Each track on the CD is so different from any other that any more usual label – blues, folk, prog etc – is quite impossible. The common factor of them is – quite apart from their excellence and tendency to be about self-pity – is that they are all produced in such an unflashy – almost completely, but never detrimentally , understated – way that Soft Rock is the obvious pigeon hole to deposit it in!

 

Perhaps if I take the album track-by-track, you’ll see what I mean….

 

Track 1 ‘Rattlesnake,’ almost to prove a point, sort of fades in to reveal a Sting-like voice and lyric – an ode to a betraying lover I think. The Classic Blues/Rock 3-piece line-up of guitar, bass and drums is augmented by beautifully inserted trumpet producing a mournful atmosphere a la mode de Miles Davis.

 

Track 2 ‘By The River’ is more a bluesy CS&N type thang. Introduced by a squashed bottle-neck guitar theme which is repeated on-and-off throughout. I’d put this into the Stephen Stills bag of composition! – which is quite hard to replicate.

 

Track 3 ‘Waiting’ is a different type of blues/folk troubadour number with an overriding rhythm suggesting moving on – the wide open spaces hitch-hiker/train-riding liberation associated with a certain style of Country Music.

 

Track 4 ‘Losing Friends’ does exactly what it says on the tin… A slow ballad very much in the Soft Rock bag. Beautifully produced – an excellent candidate for a shot at the singles chart – not that others aren’t!  

 

Track 5 ‘How It Ends,’ sadly the final cut, is more of a dirge – not quite a talking-blues – more an insight into the singer’s head, sharing his sadness and descent into psychosis… Very emotional – totally effective….

 

The most disappointing thing about ‘Fly By Wire’ is that there isn’t a lot more of it. Perhaps The Island Jacks can incorporate it into a Concept Album on the theme of desertion and despair – the stuff of all the best art! I wouldn’t even mind if they chose some much heavier tracks featuringthe extensive guitar range of axe-man Nelson Day [on which I’ve reported before – see http://www.myspace.com/abirhodeszigzagwanderings/blog/540802755

 

Anyway, you will have no doubt gathered from the above  that I thoroughly approve of this record by this band and cannot recommend it highly enough.

 

Go to  http://www.theislandjacks.com/  to give it a listen. No – don’t do that…..

 

Go to  http://www.theislandjacks.com/   and BUY it!!!!!

The Return of Amy's Ghost - too late for Hallowe'en!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8lAsQ8XFtg&list=UUeqIf74GdPeLmLwnlklouKA&index=1&feature=plcp

 

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/amysghost

OK - here's a coupla links to Amy's next project. I know you've been itching to know what they're upto. You may like to get involved - I'm hoping to....

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8lAsQ8XFtg&list=UUeqIf74GdPeLmLwnlklouKA&index=1&feature=plcp

and here is the Pledge campaign page

http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/amysghost

 

Amy's Ghost Pledge Music

www.youtube.com

Rachmanin.....off!

Sergei Rachmaninoff - Danse Orientale Op.2 No.2, 

Cello Sonata Op.19, Etudes-Tableaux Op.39, Lied (1890)

Bridge Records, Bridge 9347
 Steven Doanne -Cello, Barry Snyder - Piano                                         

Those of you, my readers, who are not of a particularly Classical bent will probably have only limited knowledge of Rachmaninoff's canon of work. Nearly everyone is familiar with his Second Piano Concerto if only for the use of its major theme which was used by Eric Carmen in his sublime song 'All By Myself'.

I confess to having been much in this position myself before receiving this disc for review. I also admit to having not holding out very much hope of being particularly impressed until I put it my CD-player and hearing the first few bars of the absolutely beautiful and haunting Danse Orientale. I was enraptured! Its melancholy air carries the listener through a variety of scenes reminiscent of Gershwin's 'An American in Paris' - sometimes busy, othertimes whistful but always conveying the signature of a light-footed dancer, observing the changing scenery rather than participating in it. Beautiful. 

The Cello Sonata in G -minor, in four movements, again leads one forward in time from its composition date, 1901, to the great cinematic landscapes drawn by the likes of Richard Addinsell's 'Warsaw Concerto' and Charles Williams' 'Dream of Olwen'. In fact it's almost a case of film being made to fit the music rather than music written for film, this work is so filmic by its nature. I find it impossible to listen to in the abstract - I just have to supply a visual and a storyline. Dramatic to say the least!

Superficially, 'Etudes-Tableaux' is a bit oxymoronic, given that 'etude' suggests an abstract piece composed to illustrate a particular instrumental skill required, while 'tableaux' sugggests pictorial sketches, but this is in fact how the pieces seem to turn out. Some sections seem pure highly cerebral and melancholy while others are clearly very impressionistic indeed, and could easily be used in a silent movie to convey actions as well as emotions.

Very close to the opening of the first 'E-T' we hear obviously cascading water - the likes of which one might expect in the work of arch-impressionist Claude Debussy and we hear similar instant pictures which might refer to or influence the works of other composers either from former days or in the future. This opus, unlike everything else on the CD, is written for and performed on piano only. Some parts require extremely virtuosic skill given their speed, timbre and range over the keyboard. In fact the majority of the work was composed at the time of the Great War and very shortly prior to the October Revolution, so Russia was clearly in turmoil on more than one front and The Composer would have been echoing the extremely complicated and deeply passionate and emotional spirit of the age both in a National and Personal Sense.

The final item on the disc , Lied, is very short but once again conveys deeply sorrowful mood and suggests a great weight being carried by the composer, yet, strnagely, leaves us wanting  for more. Not unlike Gorecki the best part of a century later, Rachmaninoff allows us, maybe even encourages us to wallow in our miserly over our woefully short and difficult existence in this mystery we call 'LIFE'!

Les Colettes, Sam Walker, The Rhinestoned Immaculates

Upstairs @ Three-in-Ten, Brighton - Friday 5th October 2012

This was one of those very special gigs which one knows will never be forgotton. The 3 bands on show were all total originals and to see them all on display in one gig was a proper treat - like a mini-festival without the discomfort!

 First up was The Muel, Sam Walker, who incidentally also promoted the evening. What's there to say I haven't told you before about Sam? I guess the bottom line is that he's developing all the time. He grows in self-confidence which reflects in the quality of the performance. And there's always a new angle on one song or another of his pretty vast repertoire.

 Tonight, his accompanist is old mate and sparring partner Matt Gest who introduces accordian to several of the songs and he thumps his more familiar keyboard/electric piano thingy for the rest.

Sam's performance is largely as a warm-up for the rest of the evening and being a pretty early start this is reflected by the releatively low number in the audience. But quality trumps quantity given that the select few included such luminaries as Arthur Brown [as in Crazy World of..] and John Watts [ex-Fischer-Z] both of whom lead bands featuring Sam. So that could indicate the esteem The Muel is held in, so yah-boo-sucks to anyone who chose not to abandon the 'fabulous' atmosphere downstairs - you now know what you missed!

Next up we were treated to Les Colettes who I found totally fascinating. Beneath a pretty conventional 'Electric Muse' exterior there lurked a rather exciting fusion of all sorts of styles including polyphony,musique concrete, and heavy metal, while at times they produce a pretty good approximation of Punk a la Siouxie Sioux and The Banshees.

They are definitely a band to see LIVE as they interact very well with the audience [now considerably swelled to full-house proportions] and are far more adventurous in instrumentation and risk-taking than they are on record if their current CD EP is anything to go by [more or less the conventional electric muse previously alluded to].

Two of the Trio are both well-accomplished vocalists while the third is a shit-hot axewoman - although I felt the confines of the set did not allow  her the full-rein of which I felt her to be capable.

I would dearly love to see her really stretch her virtuosity some time in a not-too-distant future. Having said that the relative intimacy of the venue allowed one to get close-up-and-cosy with all the acts on the bill tonight, which was particularly the case for the final set - given by the amazing  Rhinestoned Immaculates.....

....which is where a large proportion of the audience particularly didn't seem to wanna be! .... as the venue rapidly emptied [except fo the real musos here present, who stayed to see a remarkable performance].

The band is one of many guises of actor/musician Noah Taylor and in this one he plays drunken/stoned guitarist and produces the most amzing noise this side of Faust or Amon Duul I [minus Bader-Meinhof]. There is great play made of fine tuning and correct sound balance  before all hell is let loose in the form of feedback and distortion that bears absolutely no relationship with neither fine tuning nor correct sound balance!

Besides Noah's antics falling all over the stage and attempting to knock the head off his esteemed electronics wizard, the band has an expertly skilled engine room, bass and drums, who hold the madness together and bring apparent musicianship back into the equation, although nobody could really ever doubt that Noah is anything less than an awesomely accomplished actor and ace guitarist into the bargain.

 

I think the highlight of the show was their interpretation of Madge's 'Like A Virgin' and the mayhem was concluded when the band refused to end their set at the prescibed 11 o'clock [or the council will close us down] and the stage broke up with  Townshend-like ritual guitar-into-amplifier antics and the promoter having to invade the stage to switch the power off. Wonderful!

More nights like this one please.... please......pretty please...

The Pub With No Beer

The Pub With No Beer
There’s a wonderful little venue on the Kemp Town/Brighton border where I’ve seen several excellent gigs both musical and theatric. It’s called ‘Upstairs at Three and Ten’. Sadly the same positivity cannot be directed to the downstairs pub ‘Three and Ten.’ On the last couple of occasions I’ve attended a gig at the former, the latter has been sadly lacking in one or more of the basic things you expect from such an establishment.
These expectations are beer on tap, Guinness, polite and/or friendly staff, a choice of drinks at reasonable prices, help and empathy when for whatever reason they can’t supply what you first ask for and a hearty atmosphere. Given the correct supply of the majority of factors on this list, the final one follows by dint of there being a happy and content clientele as a result.
The Three in Ten has failed me miserably – on this occasion more miserably than I would have thought possible. I’ll just give you a bullet-pointed list as to linger putting it all into wordy prose would be just too, too painful….
• There were no draught beers due to the lack of delivery: this may well have been owing to the fact that the narrow lane was cut off by unavoidable roadworks [I’m extrapolating here, in order to give the pub the benefit of any doubt] – this might be  understandable and easily tolerated if some effort had been made to fill at least some of the gaps – but for instance there had been no evident progress in providing, say, bottled Guinness as an alternative to the draught variety [I’m not getting involved in arguments about whether such a substitution might or might not have been acceptable] – there was no apparent shortage of bottled beer, by the way, other….
• than the fact that the choice seemed to be limited to cider, cyder, cidre, lager, laager, laguer and amber nectar. No, not even Newcastle Brown!... I settled for a bottle of Tiger, which can be quite nice if NOT served at below - 200 deg Kelvin, which this seemed to be – as a lover of warm beer [after all this is England, home of the same]. I was not here to get pissed, drink alcohol whatever the circumstances etc – I just wanted to wet my whistle before, during and after being entertained at a rather good concert.
• I took one swig from the beer and my throat was immediately anaesthetised if not destroyed by near-absolute zero liquid nitrogen, so I surgically removed the bottle from my lips and asked the barmaid if I could have a [non-alcoholic] ginger beer [having spied some on the cold shelf as opposed to in the freezer and how much it would cost [bearing in mind that I’d already shelled out for a round of drinks where no-one had got what they’d originally asked for]… “90pence for half a can,” came the reply. You could have knocked me down with a feather – not only by the price, but also by the idea that one might get sold half a can [what would happen to the other half, would it be flat before another mug came along for it?, would it have to be chucked away at the end of the evening?, was such an arrangement acceptable under weights and measures, hygiene, health and safety etc legislation?]  My reaction was not to ask these entirely reasonable questions but to blurt out, ‘£1.80 for a can of fizzy pop you could buy for 30pence in a shop?’ The reply floored me. This IS central Brighton, don’t you know?’ – not even sympathetic with my objection. In fact – to put it bluntly – fucking rude!
• I then turned to the callow youth masquerading as ‘Mein Host’: ‘Could I have a cup of tea please?’ I enquired, trying to remain calm, although by now quite distressed. ‘No hot drinks available in the evening.’ [Not even ‘sorry’ or ‘sir’].
I gave up, left my almost unstarted bottle of Tiger on the counter [wondering if they’d manage to resell it] and went over to Morrisons Supermarket and bought a yogurt drink and the largest bar of cheap white chocolate I could lay hands on to settle my jangled nerves and recently acquired despair in at least a particular sector of human kind.
It might be unfair to judge the quality of an olde englishe pubbe – on the strength of two visits to the place – but I’m sure greater judgements have been passed on lesser evidence. I certainly will arm myself with suitable sustenance next time I attend an entertainment at ‘Upstairs at Three and Ten’ whilst giving the incompetent gang of crooks downstairs a very wide birth.

Some of the conversational exchanges in this article may have been edited and rebuilt for ‘comic/tragic’ effect – but there again, they may not.

not-so-recent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

recent self-portraits

Hot Jazz!!!!!

remind yourself about this review....
http://abi-rhodes.typepad.com/abi_rhodes_zigzag_wanderi/2011/12/a-matter-of-labelling.html

now read this...

32 minutes agoRebecka Larsdotter
Hi Abi!
Remember me? You wrote a great review about my record. And here I am trying to win a jazz competition, lol. Reason being, IF I win, I would get enough money to record a new album. I have the tunes, the musicians, the studio, just need some funding, and this would do.
Im about 50 votes down, so if you could spread the word by tomorrow, wow, that would be wonderful.
And, haha, next album might not be distributed by a jazz label....
Thanx so much again, keep up the good writing.
Peace,
Rebecka
Rebecka Larsdotter's Submission in Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition
www.indabamusic.com
Enter to win

now go and vote here...
http://www.indabamusic.com/opportunities/sarah-vaughan-international-jazz-vocal-competition/submissions/120272

Turn that racket off!!!

Poul Ruders, Volume 8 Offred Suite, Symphony No. 3 'Dream Catcher'

Offred Suite (2000)*
(Arias, Interludes and Postlude from the opera The Handmaid's Tale)
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

Tundra
(Hommage á Jean Sibelius) (1990)
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

Symphony No. 3 'Dream Catcher' (2005-6)*
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

*premiere recordings

 

BRIDGE 9382

Offred Suite (2000)*
(Arias, Interludes and Postlude from the opera The Handmaid's Tale)
Susanna Phillips, soprano
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

Tundra
(Hommage á Jean Sibelius) (1990)
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

Symphony No. 3 'Dream Catcher' (2005-6)*
Odense Symphony Orchestra
Scott Yoo, conductor

*premiere recordings

 

BRIDGE 9382

I have stated many times that there are basically 2 kinds of music: 'Real Music' and 'Music for people who DO NOT really like Music.'

This new work by Danish Composer Poul Ruders falls firmly into the former category. It's exactly the type of record you  can put on the player when you need to clear the room of Philistines!

 It is unashamedly 20th/21st Century Classical Music and the more of this type of  quality record I can lay hands on the more optimistic I feel for the future of good contemplative musical art. It stands very well alongside work by the likes of Krzyszof Penderecki, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Steve Martland.

The Offred Suite is taken from Ruders' Opera [libretto by Paul Bentley] based on Margaret Atwood's dismal dystopian  futuristic novel 'The Handmaid's Tale' and is structured as a continuous piece and based around 5 Aias and stitched together with various music taken from interludes and postludes.It alternates between moods of hope and fear and frequently scares and impresses one as it conjures scenes of extreme horror and exquisite beauty.

Tundra -  Hommage to Jean Sibelius was commisioned by The Helsinki PhilharmoniC Orchestra in celebration of the 125th annivesary of Sibelius's birth. It is descriptive of the composer's far northern Finnish Homeland. Just 5 minutes in length, the piece is short but a highly-charged deeply impressive evocation of the long winter, the bleak landscape and the harsh weather in that region.

The final, and newest, composition herein, entitled Symphony N0. 3 'Dreamcatcher' takes the form of 2 movements. As suggested by the sub-title, it refers to that shamanic artifact, now a familiar knick-knack found in gift shops, which sorts good dreams from bad, allowing the sleeper a good night's reverie.   Ruder's version, however, is an altogether more sinister device whereby Beauty  and The Beast are less successfully separated with disastrous consequences - an altogether unpleasant affair.

There are those who might say the concepts of these 3 compositions are complex enough in themselves without overlaying them with 'difficult music,'  but to dismiss the album on this basis would be a sad loss of the chance to experience some fine atmospheric mood-music. My advice to  anyone retiscent to take to the opportunityof hearing it, is give it a go. It may take a little adjustment to one's normal idea what good music should sound like but a small amount of 'work' will pay dividends and may leave a lasting legacy that al Music gives you an opening into a whole new world of Real Music!

Is NOW The Time???

Give Her The Gun: "Now's The Time..."

EP Digital and Limited Physical Release - Monday 14th September 2012

https://www.facebook.com/ghtgresistance

This really tasty piece of art/music will no doubt be hijacked by those wimpy people who insist on labelling anything a wee bit left-field with the meaningless epithet "Post-Punk".

I think I'll have to bag it up in the equally vast but more meaningful wasteland called Fusion. To narrow things down a bit I think I shall helpfully and more precisely define it to be "Dark Fusion." 

It encompasses all sorts of genres that have passed this way before - notably Stranglers/Roxy Music-type Glam/Rock/Punk, some exceedingly good Industrial Electronica a la Einstürzende Neubauten or Faust, a dash of Pomp and a gert-big dollop of good old-fashoined straight-down-the-line Rock'n'Roll!

More immediately and importantly Give Her The Gun is the direct descendent of the recently extinct and lamented cock-rockers(?) LeftHand Red.

In other words, it really is a unique stand-alone creation worthy of consideration of all music-lovers and heading I anticipate for the stately destination of 'Masterpiece' for The Few ie You and Me [The Cogniscenti] - a bold claim I accept but I'm sure there are Others out there who will join me in acclaiming this work to be just that!

I cannot describe how satisfying and challenging I've found listening to and exploring this mini-album to be. "The Creators" [I think I'll call them that] proclaim Give Her The Gun to be 'a fictional band set in a post-apocalyptic time' and the world they inhabit to be 'connected to the band-penned novels 'Caden's Journals' '[if you can sort out my liberally-sprinkled apostrophes!] - a new chapter of which will be released every few weeks and it is intended to publish a complete new novel every 18-24 months.

And as with all their other activities, including their 1st album which is due in 2013, the novel will be released under the auspices of the mysteriously titled production company "Arcane Alliance".

I thoroughly recommend this very imaginative meandering 6-track EP and suggest you make every effort to support this ambitious and very worthwhile project.

Could this be the "Sergeant Pepper's" of the new Millennium?

I believe that we should suck it and see!

Try this band!

https://www.facebook.com/S.TheDarkStars#!/S.TheDarkStars

 

Something @ the weekend

Abi is recovering from a brilliant but exhausting weekend. First The brilliant Mick Farren gig at Westhill Hall, then 6 hours sorting records ready to play at Blaker's Park Community Picnic. Then the big day itself... Wow! Several people said it was the best one yet. There was a little problem with keeping up with the timings on the set list - but doesn't that happen at all great festivals? Then the m...arquee guys turned up wanting to take our cover and stage away, having already having had to write off another tent at another venue due to it being lifted and ripped beyong repair by the near-gale-force winds. But they were brilliantly patient with us and allowed us to finish in style. Will be writing more aboctut the actual bands later if I can get my head around it, but would just like to say how varied and how accomplished they were in their different genres. This is largely down to The groups themselves of course but also the fabulous programming and negotiating skills of Nick Straiton who put the show together - not to mention the fab sound engineering by the guys from Sound On Q, Roy Weard and Cliff [Xanthus] Dowding. Secondly I send a note to self for next year - we must impose a time limit for acts to be on and off stage. So that if they choose to faff about with sound checks fussing over niceties only they will notice, then they will wind up with less performing time. All concerned - please note!

Blues @ The Komedia, Brighton

I fondly remember the era when Blues...more explicitly British Blues... was the central pivot on which all underground music swung. Names like Taste, Rory Gallagher, John Mayall, Peter Green & Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Savoy Brown were on our tongues daily and this led us to explore their American progenitors and the scene developed into the Prog. Rock scene the height of  which sadly did not last long before descending into the cesspool of pretentious navel gazing noodling boredom that spawned Punk.

Anyway these times were exciting and rapidly changing. Occasionally an attractive new Blues artist comes along and takes us back to those halcyon days in our ageing heads. I think this has happened to me in the last couple of weeks. I first saw Marcus Bonfanti at The Boogie Woogie Troop's gig @ The Brunswick in Hove last week and when I heard roles were to be reversed and The Toop were to appear as support to Marcus's band @ Brighton's Komedia this last Wednesday 30th May 2012.

Sadly I thought I wouldn't be able to afford another outing in May but then I got the chance of a guest list entry, so I jumped at it along I went!

The Boogie Woogie Troop were back to their basic format of The Amazing Matt Gest on Keys/electric piano andf Lead Vocals, The Ubiquitous Jim Mortimore on bass and The Muel Himself Mr Samuel Walker on Drums and Backing Voices. in a pretty short set they showcased their expansive spectrum of jazz, big band and rock'n'roll repertoire and think newcomers in the pleasing packed house were given something to ponder and inwardly digest.

Then Marcus Bonfanti swung onto the stage and amazed all with his fine guitar styling and exercised his lungs to show off his authentic Blues voice and very original songwriting ability. He is brilliantly supported by drums and bass. He plays a mix of traditional and self-composed tunes and each one displays a further amazing talent, be it his gravelly vocals, his very fine slide and bottleneck skills or the humour that permeates his songwriting. The show ended with Matt Gest back on stage with the band and these two great talents were able to bounce off each other producing a rare and fine exhibition of virtuoso playing at its best.

The other thing I need to mention about theis gig is that the sound quality was the best I've heard anywhere in years and years. hether that was down to the Komedia's own system, the particular engineer that evening or something Marcus's band brought along with them or a happy mixture of all of these I don't know. Whichever of these it was I'd like to thank all concerned for putting on such a great night out.

I fondly remember the era when Blues...more explicitly British Blues... was the central pivot on which all underground music swung. Names like Taste, Rory Gallagher, John Mayall, Peter Green & Fleetwood Mac, Ten Years After and Savoy Brown were on our tongues daily and this led us to explore their American progenitors and the scene developed into the Prog. Rock scene the height of  which sadly did not last long before descending into the cesspool of pretentious navel gazing noodling boredom that spawned Punk.

Anyway these times were exciting and rapidly changing. Occasionally an attractive new Blues artist comes along and takes us back to those halcyon days in our ageing heads. I think this has happened to me in the last couple of weeks. I first saw Marcus Bonfanti at The Boogie Woogie Troop's gig @ The Brunswick in Hove last week and when I heard roles were to be reversed and The Toop were to appear as support to Marcus's band @ Brighton's Komedia this last Wednesday 30th May 2012.

Sadly I thought I wouldn't be able to afford another outing in May but then I got the chance of a guest list entry, so I jumped at it along I went!

The Boogie Woogie Troop were back to their basic format of The Amazing Matt Gest on Keys/electric piano andf Lead Vocals, The Ubiquitous Jim Mortimore on bass and The Muel Himself Mr Samuel Walker on Drums and Backing Voices. in a pretty short set they showcased their expansive spectrum of jazz, big band and rock'n'roll repertoire and think newcomers in the pleasing packed house were given something to ponder and inwardly digest.

Then Marcus Bonfanti swung onto the stage and amazed all with his fine guitar styling and exercised his lungs to show off his authentic Blues voice and very original songwriting ability. He is brilliantly supported by drums and bass. He plays a mix of traditional and self-composed tunes and each one displays a further amazing talent, be it his gravelly vocals, his very fine slide and bottleneck skills or the humour that permeates his songwriting. The show ended with Matt Gest back on stage with the band and these two great talents were able to bounce off each other producing a rare and fine exhibition of virtuoso playing at its best.

The other thing I need to mention about theis gig is that the sound quality was the best I've heard anywhere in years and years. hether that was down to the Komedia's own system, the particular engineer that evening or something Marcus's band brought along with them or a happy mixture of all of these I don't know. Whichever of these it was I'd like to thank all concerned for putting on such a great night out.

Theatre at The End of The Universe

Ragnarok: The Weird of the Gods

Venue: Upstairs at Three and Ten

Category: Theatre

Sub-category: Funny, Live music

Promoter: Theatre of the Preposterous

Entrance fee: £9.00 (£7.50 concessions)

Website: www.theatreofthepreposterous.co.uk

Twitter: @johnny_acecraft

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/events/232336040185051/

Age Suitability: PG – Children (16 and under) must be accompanied by an adult

Loki has broken his chains, and gathers his monstrous offspring around him. This is pretty shitty news. Basically, we’re doomed. Monsters, frost-giants and assorted freaks battle the gods in the battle to end all battles.
Musical comedy based on Norse mythology, from John Hinton, creator of international hit ‘Origin of Species…’: “Remarkably inventive, thoroughly entertaining… Must See!” (Stage)

Students - £5

WOW!

Despite my enthusiasm for Iceland, I've always found sorting out the rather confusing Norse Mythology somewhat beyond the capabilities of my pea-sized brain.

But all that's been changed...

                                  ...by "Ragnarok: Weird of the Gods performed byThe Theatre Of The Preposterous  aka John Hinton.

This one-man extravaganza did a fine job on me and now the muddle in my mind has been clarified.

If all education in History, Religion, Mythology etc was taught according to The Preposterous Theory, then the world would be full of graduates in those subjects!

Story-telling, musical numbers, video, funny hats and over-the-top mad-cap humourous writing all add up to a terrific show, and the good news is .....

                                                   ...it will be performed again in Ditchling in October

Boogie-Woogie, Honky-Tonkin' Barrelhouse, Ragtime,Rock'n'Rollin' Razzamajazz Jungle Book Troop

Yay!!!!!

Last night's 5-star trip down Hove's Ol' Holland Road to The Brunswick - just short of the seafront [else it'd be in the sea  (ha-ha)] - to see Matthew Gest's Boogie Woogie Troop as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival was a rare treat indeed.

Not only did we get a virtuoso display of a huge range of Piano stylees from Mr Gest himself - which has to be the reason for turning up in the first place, but the capacity crowd was vastly entertained by the unquenchable rapport between the band members especially Matt and drummer Sam Walker [aka The Muel] who were visibly making great sport of attempting to push each other into prematurely jumping clearly moveable lines in the sand to change to a different key, tempo,tune, style,next week, universe, whatever...

Tonight's incarnation of the band, including Sax [blown stylishly, but avec grande gusto by Charlotte Glasson whom I have not seen perform before] and Jevon Beaumont on Bass [wonderful empathy and facial expressions!] was, in the second half of the show supplemented by special guest [or Gest] Marcus Bonfanti, blues guitarist and singer-songwriter, and I have to say I have not heard such fine new blues composition in many a long year.

Sorry - not much else to say really - you really did have to be there to appreciate the quality of the gig. Mere words cannot do it justice.

Actually [as in Hove Actually], there is one more thing....I'm told you can catch Marcus and his band playing @ The Komedia, Brighton next Wednesday and co-incidentally Boogie Woogie Troop are their support band, so if you missed this one [or even if you didn't!] you do get a second bite of the cherry....

 

Launch of Scottish Independence "YES" Campaign

Once again England's population, that includes many, many Scots - is being sidelined and disadvantaged by not having a vote on this vital question which affects all our futures.

I personally have no objection in principle to this political change, but am very concerned about the future for English politics if the proposal is carried, especially if Wales eventually goes the same way. Goodness knows what the outcome would be if Northern Ireland ended up wanting Independence too!

Many of Westminster's Labour and Liberal-Democrat MPs are representing constituencies in these Provinces and the loss of them would seriously affect the Balance of Power rendering the Tories virtually unstoppable to remove from power and upsetting our traditional position of having regular swings in emphasis of philosophy in charge at Westminster, thus safeguarding our Democracy.

The Tories can happily oppose the move to independence for Scotland, knowing they will have no effect on the vote and that the change will be to their advantage in England in the future.

It is very selfish of the SNP to limit democratic decision making to Scotland over such an issue, while having spent years taking advantage of The West Lothian Question - the position where they've been voting on English issues at Westminster while excluding the English, Welsh and N. Irish from votes taken in the Scottish Parliament

looking back through this blog to find a record review that I wrote some years ago I found this which I thought I'd post again...
I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt