Juffage's Sonic Cauldron @ Left Bank Leeds, 26/04/13

Juffage’s usual live show always has the feel of a controlled experiment with his madcap and erratic one-man multitasking approach to setting up the complex looping of various instruments, cooking up a rich, dense musical brew.

However, this special one-off show is his most ambitious work to date, as he replaces the stew-pot of your regular gig venue with his immense ‘sonic cauldron’: the former church at Left Bank is converted into a surround sound arena, with numerous speakers, amplifiers and boomboxes places on all sides of the audience. With him being joined by some helping hands, from such sources as Sky Larkin and Vessels no less, this results in a weird and wonderful sonic experience like no other.

This is aided by the fact that the main man himself, aka Jeff T. Smith, has managed to put together a line-up of leftfield and progressive acts that make the best use of Left Bank as a performance space. This is clear from the opening strains played out by Ten, an ambient ensemble whose control and poise is phenomenal as they fill the room with their mournful, haunting and ultimately beautiful soundscapes. Those who have made it down early are truly rewarded by their fine emotional ebbs and flows.

More have gathered by the time bass virtuoso Steve Lawson takes to the stage, initially alone, yet soon joined by saxophonist Andy Williamson who begins, quite unexpectedly, at the back of the church, before encircling the crowd and eventually joining Steve at a raised platform just above him. The duo create uniquely loop-layered compositions with high levels of improvisation. Lawson’s bass set-up is as complex as the music itself, with an array of effects the likes of which few bassists would ever care to fathom, but which allow his 6-stringed instrument to sound like any other he wishes, ranging from as you’d expect, to distorted blues guitar, to synthesiser tones in an instant. While the babble from the bar does at times reverberate around the hall, Lawson’s innovative approach, coupled with Williamson’s passionately played sax, proves totally captivating for those gathered close.

Thankfully the audience grant These Men’s polite request for the necessary hush to break into their a capella ditties. Their harmonies are pitch perfect, their quaint storytelling is charming, and their manners are impeccable. Having last seen them through the fog of a hangover in a café on a Sunday morning, I didn’t think there would be a better setting for this most unusual of acts, but it turns out I was wrong. The acoustics suit them perfectly and they seem even better without having the task of soothing a sore head.

Juffage and his borrowed cohorts take to the stage with a word of explanation: tonight’s set will comprise of entirely original compositions written with the show in mind and the plethora of speakers are being governed by a specially designed computer programme that ensures that the experience will be entirely different depending on where you stand around the room. This of course makes it difficult to objectively characterise a performance that will be, in the band’s own words, totally subjective and unique to each individual. However, following the encouragement to move around proves most rewarding: in one spot the guitars and vocals shine through the mix, in another a few minutes later the electronic instrumentation takes centre stage. Not everyone makes this decisive break with gig etiquette however, being far too polite to consider shuffling past others, but tonight is all about the sonic journey, rather than an occasion where you might require a view of the action.

In any case, no matter where you stand, the experiment of the ‘cauldron’ is a success. The sound is dense, yet not without clarity and focus. And despite the relative lack of exciting chaos that have come to be synonymous with a Juffage show, the extra musicians allow for the songs to be played as originally intended, with all of their nuances left intact as Jeff is no longer limited by his own physical capabilities.

While this show is much more about music and sounds than the man, it is a shame that this is the only time we will see the maverick performer this year. As his sole live project of 2013 it has proven to be a worthy one though, and has certainly whetted the appetite to see what he will come up with next time around.

Check out Juffage @ juffage.com

And check out the awesome work being done at Left Bank @ leftbankleeds.org.uk

Photos: John Toolan via Music to Wash Up To – Visit HERE

Originally published @ http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/live-juffages-sonic-cauldron-left-bank-leeds-26-04-13/

And So I Watch You From Afar - Manchester Academy 3, 20/04/13

You know those shows that come along every once in a while where you really feel like you’re witnessing something special?

You get the feeling that every night on the current tour by Northern Ireland’s finest post-math-dance-rock merchants And So I Watch You From Afar has been that way. On the back of their most polished and accomplished work to date, All Hail Bright Futures,  they pack out the smallest of the Manchester Academy venues on the last night of a stretch originally scheduled for November but cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Judging by the way everyone filters in early, they’ve been biding their time ever since the news broke.

First up though, Londoners Antlered Man have the task of warming up a crowd already nearing boiling point and are thankfully more than up to it. Drafted in for the remainder of these dates at the last minute owing to Gallops’ absence (which we now, unfortunately, know the reason for), their blend of obnoxious jagged noise, stoner grooves and weird nuances (penny whistles, megaphones, singing in character?!) they prove the perfect curveball to kick off proceedings for a largely unsuspecting crowd. Their sound is refreshingly pushing against trend, unlike anything else on the scene at the moment – think a mix between the frenetic, psychotic nature of Future of the Left and System of a Down segueing into the sort of grooves Kyuss would be proud of.

We’ve just about managed to get our head around what we’ve just observed before the tinkling guitars of recent album-opener ‘Eunoia’ shimmer from the PA and the four Belfast boys take to the stage. From here they launch into ‘Big Thinks Do Remarkable’ and it’s clear that energy and enthusiasm are in abundance, and immediately spreading around the room. The huge grin across the face of guitarist Rory Friers is replicated wherever you look and the euphoria is both palpable and clearly humbling to those onstage. By the time they slam into the groove of ‘Ambulance!’, what appears to be the happiest pit in the world opens up and will remain in full swing for the rest of the evening. “This song’s about only doing things that make you happy”, Friers tells us before old favourite ‘Don’t Waste Time Doing Things You Hate’, although he seems to be preaching to the converted on this occasion.

While other instrumental rock bands tend to work on the formula of slowly building to intense emotional peaks, with the occasional out and out banger thrown in for good measure, ASIWYFA have set themselves apart by favouring the latter. On paper, this relative lack of light and shade should be to their detriment, but both on record and in a live setting they have perfected the art of structuring a set of material and are somehow able to sustain their high throughout. The encore gives us chance to catch our breath as they revel in the moment, apparently reluctant to start closer ‘The Voiceless’ as it would signal the end of this run of dates. Its glittering crescendo leaves few keen to head home themselves, and we can only hope they make good on their promise to be back sooner rather than later.

Check out Antlered Man @ facebook.com/antleredman

Check out And So I Watch You From Afar @ asiwyfa.bandcamp.com

Review originally published @ http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/live-and-so-i-watch-you-from-afar-academy-2-manchester-20-04-13/

Deftones @ Manchester Academy, 18/02/13

Deftones’ White Pony provided a real watershed moment for the late 90s metal set. With its ethereal atmospherics meets hardcore bombast dynamic the band truly demonstrated that they were misplaced in the nu-metal boom. It’s just a shame that such a classic work has been used as a benchmark against which each of their preceding albums has been judged and in turn almost unanimously deemed to come up short. It’s only when treated to a set spanning their body of work that you can appreciate how well older material stands up to the test of time, and how the last 13 years’ worth of their output has succeeded on so many levels in remoulding their masterwork’s template.

Three Trapped Tigers are undoubtedly a musician’s dream and a soundman’s nightmare, given their complex set up of various synths and effects and the virtuosic intricacy of each bandmembers’ parts. So it’s perhaps forgivable that some things are slightly off at the beginning of their set. Particularly noticeable is the volume of their sparse wordless vocals, which should be the icing upon the cake but are instead brought jarringly to the fore. Such wrongs are righted quickly however and by midset those gathered early are hypnotised by the Tigers’ brand of otherworldly math-psychedelia and their most ascendant passages are mesmerising. Their ambitious soundscapes are well suited to the massive PA in the Academy, even though they are well and truly humbled to be here on this tour, gracing ‘the biggest stages [they] have ever played on’. A number of jaws almost audibly drop when it comes round to the noodling guitars and synths and unorthodox percussion of ‘Cramm’, which not only provides a showcase of the sheer (apparently effortless) ability of all three members, but also their hookiest melodies which get heads nodding in unison. Undoubtedly a few of those entranced this evening have been seduced into coming back for more.

By contrast, the more traditionally arresting post-hardcore riot of letlive. seems pretty pedestrian, musically speaking. While their assault is pleasingly angular and hammered out with a great deal of enthusiasm, it’s hard to shake the feeling that it has all been done before, the most clear comparison point being Glassjaw, which really is a tough act to follow. What they lack in originality however, they more than make up in showmanship thanks to frontman Jason Butler’s seemingly boundless energy. While the sort of intense show they put on usually works best when penetrating your personal space in a pokey sweatbox, they deserve credit for managing to uphold the spectacle in a much bigger setting. At one point, insanely enough, Butler even pulls off an incredibly impressive mid-song front-flip. Unfortunately the energy drops in the middle of the set as they deliver a straight-out-of-2004 ballad reminiscent of The Used and their ilk, but is thankfully restored in time for Butler to pull off the obligatory ‘punk band in a big venue’ move of the stage dive over the barrier. 

By the time they’ve left the stage, the atmosphere is thick with expectation. For the first time in the evening, once the capacity crowd filters fully into the room, movement becomes a shuffle and is no longer voluntary by the time Chino Moreno and Co hit the stage with ‘Diamond Eyes’. From the opener it’s clear that the band are on form and they really feed off the devotion of the crowd, the core demographic of which has clearly grown up with their music. Their enthusiasm is rewarded by a nice early one-two punch of the classics ‘Be Quiet and Drive’ and ‘My Own Summer’, which really whips the room into a frenzy. If anything, we can be thankful that we’re calmed down when they peg it back, with the monolithic churn of ‘Rosemary’ from the recently released Koi No Yokan.

One of the bigger surprises in the set comes with the inclusion of a powerful rendition of White Pony’s ‘Passenger’, which works surprisingly well with Chino alone as opposed to its usual interplay with Tool’s Maynard James Keenan. Paired with the hypnotic swirl of ‘Entombed’, with its tapped guitars and Chino’s soaring vocal, the rapturous response confirms this as the most majestic segment of the evening. From here on in, they don’t quite sustain this peak, which is perhaps understandable, and the set does drag at points towards its close. The mass singalong to perennial favourite ‘Change (In the House of Flies)’ does however provide another welcome lift.

The level of energy and enthusiasm the band play with is what we’d expect of a group of teen upstarts, and when they bound back onto the stage for an encore comprised entirely of cuts from debut Adrenaline, it is hard to believe that such songs are nearing 20 years of age. It’s apparent that despite all they’ve been through, with the tragic car crash in 2008 from which permanent bassist Chi Cheng is still recovering, Deftones show no signs of letting up. While they may never produce another epochal masterwork, their output is always high-calibre, their shows vibrant, and they have retained hero status where their peers have trawled the depths of mediocrity. For this we should be thankful.

Check out Deftones @ deftones.com, letlive. @ thisisletlive.com and Three Trapped Tigers @ facebook.com/threetrappedtigers

Photographs by Jason Broadhurst

Article originally published at http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/live-deftonesthree-trapped-tigers-academy-manchester-18-02-13/

Robot // Alien - Concealing the Lifting EP

Sheen is all well and good, but when it comes to heartfelt guitar pop, sometimes the fuzzier and scuzzier the better…

Such is the case for Manchester’s RoBoT//aLiEn, whose thrashy, synth-laden ditties just sound right with the fi nice and lo. After all, a studio polish would just detract from the charming sense of paranoia that pervades this EP release.

Opener ‘Forever Please?’ provides the perfect introduction to the Robot, aka Rob Allen (geddit?!), with its interplay of distorted chords and tinkling keys. Speaking out to a generation of disillusioned  young adults, its chorus references retro childhood favourites “It’s like a life of claymation/I’m turning into Morph/opening up Trap Doors” and its pop sensibilities eventually give way to discordant fuzz guitars, seeing out the track with an outpour of frustration.

While essentially a straightforward pop song, the nostalgic feel and blissful melodies of ‘You Are Traffic’ provide the perfect antidote to anyone disillusioned with the genre’s ongoing bastardisation. The lyrical theme is continued, albeit over a more solid groove, as Allen questions whether “life is something I can’t plan“. Such control soon gives over to just under 2 minutes of bombastic stomping crunch however, as ‘Putdown, 2001!’ delivers on the opening track’s parting promise of raucousness.

The latter part of the EP explores the more psychedelic aspects of Allen’s sound. The synth-heavy ‘Poppy’ which instils a sense of foreboding through its off-kilter combination of sweet melancholic verses juxtaposed with choruses delivered part-monotone, part-harsh screams. Ultimately this is dissipated by closer  ‘A Little Love’, which provides the clearest insight into the eclectic influences bearing on the record, equal parts 90s grunge pop and 60s guitar pop proper.

The 5 tracks on ‘Concealing the Lifting’ showcase RoBoT//aLiEn’s refreshing noise-pop songwriting and demonstrate why he has gained the attention of 6Music amongst others.  With a little luck he’ll be breaking out of Manchester in no time.

Download ‘Concealing the Lifting’ @ soundcloud.com/robotalienuk

Check out RoBoT//aLiEn @ facebook.com/robotandalien

Article originally published @ http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/ep-review-robotalien-concealing-the-lifting/

Tangled Talk Records

Aside from such legendary imprints as Sub-Pop, Def Jam and Discord, few labels can lay claim to being one of the homes of a musical movement. However, as one of the originating hotbeds of the burgeoning #UKSwell scene, Brighton’s Tangled Talk could possibly have a stake in such a hall of fame.

Not denoting a genre as such, the hashtag started as a joke in reference to the US ‘Wave’ of bands such as Defeater and Touché Amoré (and for some involved, it still is), but soon came to stand for a shared ethos of bands looking to foster a spirit of camaraderie within the UK’s heavy music scene. In practice, the term denotes a collective wanting to play heavy music that is free of pretence and macho stigma.

Founded back in 2008, Tangled Talk, along with Holy Roar, have played a key part in the unearthing of the intelligent heavy music acts that have gone on to form this strong grassroots community and have continually put out absolute stormers of modern hardcore. The label soon became home to some of Swell’s core bands such as The Long Haul and Pariso, and jointly released the sadly defunct Kerouac’s records along with their Holy Roar brethren.

It’s not all about the screamy stuff however. The label has diversified this year with releases from party punks Gnarwolves and alt-folk act Mothbites, and has previously handled UK distribution for spoken word supremos Listener.

Label founder Andrej can pride himself not only on the talent of the bands on his roster, but also the loving craft of the physical products developed for them, with their emphasis on unique vinyl pressings. These range from the resplendent (see Vales white ‘snow-drops’ number) to the bizarre (Gnarwolves’ ‘sneezing wolf’ 12” complete with ‘snot-splatter’ effect) and recently, Pariso opted for a format that is both personalised postcard from the band and playable record in one!

Tangled Talk releases begging to be checked out:

The Long Haul – Debtors

South coast hardcore with blues sensibilities buried amongst breakneck time changes and unreserved fury. Expect big things from a debut full length.

Vales – Clarity

Released in January under the moniker Veils until a pesky threat of legal action, the original pressing of this debut EP may be rendered a future rarity. Vital, angular modern screamo from deepest, darkest Cornwall.

Kerouac – Cold and Distant, Not Loving

Everything the contemporary hardcore record should be, showcasing their ability to create haunting beauty out of disparate elements and chaotic noise. If only we could have had another before they called it a day.

Gnarwolves – CRU

Breathing life into pop punk with their total lack of pretence, uplifting zest for life and rousing sing-a-longs. This is party rock at its finest.

Pick up all these releases and more in some lush formats over at tangledtalk.com

Illustration by @DeanSmithers

Article originally published at http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/label-spotlight-tangled-talk-records/

A Carefully Planned Festival #2

Just as we started lamenting the onset of bitter winds that herald the beginning of Winter, and dreaming back to the heady days of Summer festivals, up springs the second coming of the glorious Carefully Planned Festival in Manchester’s Northern Quarter to chase away those blues…

Offering ludicrous value for money (over 100 acts for £10?!) and the chance to catch some of the best of the UK’s rising talent, whilst soaking in the atmosphere of the hipster capital of the North West, this was to be one of the best weekends in recent memory.

Saturday

Upon stepping into the Soup Kitchen on Saturday afternoon we are greeted by what would turn out to be one of the weekend’s most conspicuous characters, a hippy Gandalf-alike, proclaiming ‘THIS IS THE PLACE TO BE ON LSD!’. And it really was hard to disagree with him as we were treated to the instrumental workouts of PLANK! and Day for Airstrikes, who provided all the psychadelia we needed without the substances. The former prove a tour de force of prog experimentalism, theirBattles meets Yes by way of Garth Marenghi bombast helps clearly explain the roomful of people gathered by 4 O’Clock. Their cohorts showcase a more conventional post-rock sound, albeit executed with a great amount of shimmer, spine tingle and crush in equal measure.

Next up is the emo-tinged math of Arcs and Trauma, who are frighteningly talented for their age. Their set drags a little in parts, and they clearly still seek a definitive sound, but show a huge amount of promise. We can certainly expect to hear a lot more from them in future, having recently had a turnaround on their decision to make this their final performance, and it will be interesting to see how they mature. You never know, they could grow into a band of Quadrilles’ calibre, next to be checked out over at the delightfully minimal Kraak Gallery. Their performance is well-honed, and their brand ofKinsella twinkles meets British quirks wins hearts.

As a break from all things post-/math-, we took a little time out with the twee indie-pop of Just Handshakes (We’re British). They prove a charmingly incongruous warm-up for the all-conquering force of Brontide, whose performance tonight is earth-shattering. Oftentimes monolithically heavy, otherwise beautifully serene, and always razor-sharp – it’s inconceivable that this band could put a foot wrong, such is their ice-cool self-assurance. Faces are melted, expletives are bellowed in disbelieving approval at their unbridled musicality.

Probably a few too many beers consumed by the time &U&I take to the stage over at Gullivers, but what through the haze, these are the memories: a) they broke the bass drum skin and b) they were pretty good regardless (or at least seemed that way, I’m told I had a big smile throughout). By now though, it’s time to rest up for another day of awesomeness and so we set off for the night bus, both satisfied and eagerly expectant.

Sunday

The hangover was thankfully appeased by the most appropriate start to the day, lounging in Nexus Art Café with a coffee, some homemade carrot cake, and barbershop quartet These Men, with their sweet harmonies and quaint ditties on topics including Sheikh Mansour’s purchase of Man City.

From no instruments, to the finest of instrumentalists – next up was This Town Needs Guns over at 2022NQ. Brought in almost immediately upon Stuart Smith’s departure, there’s not a hint of any setback with the arrival of Henry Tremain, who may well be the most polite man in music. In fact – whisper it – their new material sounds even better than their best material from Animals when played side by side this afternoon. Future release ‘I’ll Take the Minute Snake’ proves a set highlight, pointing towards a third full-length that combines the technical prowess of their second with the thrilling passion of their debut.

A rather different spectacle is that of multi-instrumentalist Juffage, who brings his chaotic, mad scientist approach music to Soup Kitchen.  The Leeds-based Chicagoan has no need for a band, playing each instrument himself as if following recipes to gradually build lush looping soundscapes. The beauty of his live show rests on a seemingly natural spontaneity, yet everything is executed with aplomb. His set may well have been the most ‘far out’ of the weekend, were he not followed by Ex-Easter Island Head over at Kraak. They tellingly introduce their set as a ‘piece of music’ before launching into half an hour of the least conventional ‘guitar playing’ ever conceived of – using magnets and beaters to tease out their brand of avant-garde drone. Not once is a string plucked or strummed. Bizarre, but hypnotically enthralling.

By contrast, they make Dad Rocks! look somewhat normal, which is quite the feat. After all, this is the guy who openly writes of ‘not feeling fit to be raising a kid who gets to suck on all the tits’ (‘Pants’). His set is undeniably engaging however, feeling truly fleshed out and fully formed with a 4 piece backing band.  Not even the rather noisier band practicing upstairs, nor all-round bouts of man-flu, could put them off their stride.

Shapes, over at Gullivers, are a little disappointing this evening. Their set worryingly drags on despite the festival length, suffering from the material all being a little too similar. However, they do throw themselves into the performance as ever, and the oppressive heat and volume admittedly does them no favours. On the other hand though, Glaswegians We Are The Physics are an absolute riot – their anarchic party punk on subjects such as 2001 Wimbledon champ Goran Ivanisevic provides one of the most fun spectacles of the weekend. Just as with Brontide the previous evening, the dissimilarity between The Physics and tonight’s Soup Kitchen headliners, Tall Ships, somehow lends to our enjoyment of both bands. By the set’s end the crowd are whipped into a frenzy as frontman Michael M hands bass duties to a punter, allowing him to have his own slice of the party down at the front.

And so, we come to the end of the weekend, and a certain Falmouth-formed 3-piece are the perfect bang to go out on. There is a true celebratory feel to Tall Ships’ set this evening, this being one of two festival appearances in support of Everything Touching’s release and you can feel the love in the room from both the crowd and their various Big Scary Monsters comrades, who are seen exchanging hugs with the band mid-set. It doesn’t matter in the slightest that ‘Chemistry’ is a little sloppy, the band seem sincerely chuffed at the reaction they receive, and the set is otherwise flawless, from rousing opener ‘T=0’, through to the mass singalong at the end of ‘Vessels’, and finally to sublime album closer ‘Murmurations’. The sense as we spill into the bitter night is that this may well be one of the last times we get to see this band in a room so small – and that makes it truly special.

So, with plenty of MM favourites, some fantastic new discoveries, and genuinely warm vibes all round,  this was the mother of all DIY parties.  Props to the organisers, who very carefully planned, and more importantly, very successfully pulled everything off. In short, this was probably the best tenner we ever spent. And we can’t wait to do it all again the next time around.

Keep up with the Carefully Planned dudes and find news on any future events at acarefullyplannedfestival.wordpress.com

Article originally published @ http://musicalmathematics.co.uk/musical-mathematics-carefully-planned-festival-2/

Great Pagans - Great Pagans EP

‘We’re teenage silhouettes/We’re all strung out on sunsets/Then we’re gone. Yeah, we’re long gone’ goes the refrain of the opener on Great Pagans’ new self-titled EP, perfectly summing up the tone of the whole record…

The Brighton 4-piece capture the tenuous sense of occasion that youth endows the most transient of moments; that all-encompassing fear that comes with new experiences, only to evaporate by the time the next party begins.

The opening track embodies this sentiment perfectly in form as well as lyrical content, beginning all broody, pulsing bass, twinkling guitars and sighed vocals before gathering pace and building to buzzing, riotous indie-pop guitars, and eventually settling back into a reprise of the former. It’s like being alone with one’s thoughts on a long summer’s day, when suddenly your friends rush you off to an awesome house party – which you wake up from only to remember something regretful from the night before. If I were making my own super style-over-substance teen drama, this would undoubtedly make my soundtrack.

The lyrical theme is continued by ‘Not Been Myself Lately’, with its equally succinct refrain ‘Not been myself lately/ Just not sure who’s replaced me’, again crafting a portrait of the distantly familiar shape-shifting teenage mind.  However, this time it’s played out over a thoroughbred guitar pop ditty – all funky bass and jangling guitars. ‘Living in Sin’ and ‘We Dance Alone’ bring in new wave influences, both capturing a summer evening vibe with their warm grooves and prominent synth parts interspersed with indie-disco choruses.

The record is anchored in its centre by ‘Slow Crash’, a dreamy number that just errs on the right side of schmaltzy, despite their use of easy listening brass. Thankfully, the band manage to pull us in with psychedelic swirling movements rather than simply taking us from A to B with a straight-up ballad. It will be interesting to see if Great Pagans can continue to remember how it feels to be young or whether they’ll grow old and cynical. As long as they avoid developing false sentiments, they will surely be ones to watch.