Following last week's Roddy Woomble post I was sent a few links to things by a couple of promotions and management companies, asking me to have a listen, see if there is anything I liked. I spend a hideous amount of time scouting around the internet looking for things I like the sound of. And truth be told I've heard some fucking awful shit lately. I mean worse than the angst filled teenage crap I used to write when I was 14, fat, and nowhere near funny enough.
I blame "nu-folk", we weathered the "nu-metal" and the "nu-rave" storms, and now, in a world where everything has been done before, folk is apparently the next victim. There is a new vogue for pop songs, ballads, sung with an acoustic guitar under the banner of folk. And frankly most of it is bloody awful. However, one thing I was sent by a management company stood out last week.
Dan Wilde hailing from Blackpool (of all the gin-joints) is clearly well versed in his folk and blues heritage. There is a very Irish singer-song writer sound about his music, and love it or hate it, it works. His songs would not sound out of place with the likes of Damien Rice and although less ethereal than James Vincent McMorrow I can't help but feel that with time he will get there.
Go check out his website and have a listen on Spotify
but most of all make sure you check out his beautiful version of His Bobness' Simple Twist of Fate.
This version is taken from Younger Than That Now a collection of Bob Dylan songs covered by various artists in celebration of Dylan's 70th Birthday. It is magnificent.
Showing posts with label Folk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Folk. Show all posts
Monday, June 13, 2011
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Live Music: Anais Mitchell, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds 31st May 2011
"This feels like story time at the library" - the opening words of Anais Mitchell when stepping onto the stage at the Brudenell Social Club. And indeed she was right, there was an element of 'story time' about the evening. The audience, myself and my friends included, had begun to fill the lower floor of the Brudenell Social Club during the support acts, not standing, and staring meaningfully at our shoes, as is oft the case at a folk gig, but sitting on the floor. Sitting and staring intently, wondering if we ought to stand up, but secretly wishing we could remain sat, nursing our pints (there is Red Stripe on tap after all)and being told stories. Our wish was granted. Mitchell seemed more than happy with the sitting arrangement and began to tell us stories immediately.
Anais Mitchell, the American singer song writer and folky extraordinaire was preceded in the evening by two support acts. Sam Airey and Pengilly's. Pengilly's were in all honesty not my cup of tea. Although musically very worthy, there was just too much going on. The sound was off and there were far too many instruments and vocal lines produced by the six strong band, comprising of two guitarists, a drummer, cellist, at times two violin players and someone with a key board. On second listening to their myspace offerings I understand the music they were trying to create, but it just didn't translate into a small live space like The Brudenell Social Club. In direct contract to this however was the beautiful simplicity of the first support act Sam Airey. Airey, a Leeds based singer song writer had the early doors crowd paying full attention whilst he played songs from not only his debut E.P but also numerous other songs that were both lyrically beautiful and musically elegant. Airey confessed to having not written a set list but along with his cellist he meandered through a few beautiful songs. All in all Airey is certainly worth checking out, his E.P has been in my car for the last week on constant repeat, which is no mean feat.
When Anais Mitchell took to the stage she played an extensive set with extracts from her Hadestown album taking the fore. Mitchell's 'folk opera' tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and their journey to Hades yet it is set as Mitchell said in a "post apocalyptic waste land in the depths of a recession." The following rendition of "Flowers" was a request from the crowd that Mitchell played with pleasure.
Anais Mitchell, Flowers, Live The Brudenell Social Club 31st May 2011 by Zi_ish
In fact Mitchell frequently stopped to check that there were no particular songs people wished to hear, and did finish with the personal favorite, and request of my friends C and R, Old Fashioned Hat
In addition to her own songs Mitchell also played a couple of more traditional and older folk songs. Mitchell's rendition of Johnny Barbary, about the seduction of an Englishman's daughter was utterly beautiful and captivating. I'm sad I don't have a recording of it. Her voice whilst singing it made the room stand still, the bar went quiet, all eyes were on Mitchell. I'm loathed to use the word haunting to describe it, but I can come up with few better words; it definitely made the hair stand up on not only the back of my neck but also my forearms. Mitchell also played her version of Harry Robertson's beautiful Ballina Whalers.
Along with the inclusion of some new album tracks, which left us all with baited breath for the next instalment of the Anais Mitchell catalogue, it was a thoroughly beautiful evening. Mitchell had the crowd in raptures, like a group of primary school children listening to a fascinating story teller, except we had the addition of a bar and thankfully the omission of the usual mental hippies schools seemed to get in during the late 1980s to sing songs about animals and God.
Anais Mitchell, the American singer song writer and folky extraordinaire was preceded in the evening by two support acts. Sam Airey and Pengilly's. Pengilly's were in all honesty not my cup of tea. Although musically very worthy, there was just too much going on. The sound was off and there were far too many instruments and vocal lines produced by the six strong band, comprising of two guitarists, a drummer, cellist, at times two violin players and someone with a key board. On second listening to their myspace offerings I understand the music they were trying to create, but it just didn't translate into a small live space like The Brudenell Social Club. In direct contract to this however was the beautiful simplicity of the first support act Sam Airey. Airey, a Leeds based singer song writer had the early doors crowd paying full attention whilst he played songs from not only his debut E.P but also numerous other songs that were both lyrically beautiful and musically elegant. Airey confessed to having not written a set list but along with his cellist he meandered through a few beautiful songs. All in all Airey is certainly worth checking out, his E.P has been in my car for the last week on constant repeat, which is no mean feat.
When Anais Mitchell took to the stage she played an extensive set with extracts from her Hadestown album taking the fore. Mitchell's 'folk opera' tells the story of Orpheus and Eurydice and their journey to Hades yet it is set as Mitchell said in a "post apocalyptic waste land in the depths of a recession." The following rendition of "Flowers" was a request from the crowd that Mitchell played with pleasure.
Anais Mitchell, Flowers, Live The Brudenell Social Club 31st May 2011 by Zi_ish
In fact Mitchell frequently stopped to check that there were no particular songs people wished to hear, and did finish with the personal favorite, and request of my friends C and R, Old Fashioned Hat
In addition to her own songs Mitchell also played a couple of more traditional and older folk songs. Mitchell's rendition of Johnny Barbary, about the seduction of an Englishman's daughter was utterly beautiful and captivating. I'm sad I don't have a recording of it. Her voice whilst singing it made the room stand still, the bar went quiet, all eyes were on Mitchell. I'm loathed to use the word haunting to describe it, but I can come up with few better words; it definitely made the hair stand up on not only the back of my neck but also my forearms. Mitchell also played her version of Harry Robertson's beautiful Ballina Whalers.
Along with the inclusion of some new album tracks, which left us all with baited breath for the next instalment of the Anais Mitchell catalogue, it was a thoroughly beautiful evening. Mitchell had the crowd in raptures, like a group of primary school children listening to a fascinating story teller, except we had the addition of a bar and thankfully the omission of the usual mental hippies schools seemed to get in during the late 1980s to sing songs about animals and God.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
For Emma, forever ago.
Bon Iver and a scotch on the rocks. That's me. Happy.
Things have been fairly relaxed over here for the past week or so. As has the eating. Communal 'dig in' and eat with your fingers eating has been the norm and the following recipe is one of my favorites. This has been altered from Alex Rushmers Momofoku Pork Bun's. I can heartily recommend the original recipe, but I've changed things just slightly so these buns can be made with tofu to make them vegan friendly, and when pushed for time in the evenings I make them with pork chops drizzled in hoisin sauce which I then shred with forks.
Any way, here is the recipe:
In a bowl mix:
365g Plain Flour
1tsp Salt
40g Sugar
To this add:
250ml ish Warm water
1.5tsp Yeast (I use quick acting)
1tbs Oil
I mix all of this with a wooden spoon. Its a soggy dough so its not so good for tipping out and kneading. If you have a bread machine this makes the whole thing so much easier...just whack everything in and put it on the dough setting. Just treat the dough roughly with a spoon until the dough gets a bit elastic.
Leave this to rise for 40mins, or a couple of hours or most of the day...as I often do.
Once the dough has risen, knock it back and separate the dough into 20 balls. Put these on squares of baking paper and leave them to rise again. This should take another maybe 20 mins.
From here all you need to do is steam the buns. They take 8-12 mins and I do them in my vegetable steamer.
From there, just serve. Like I said I serve them with tofu or pork cooked in hoisin sauce. I serve these with bowls of shredded cucumber and spring onion. I serve them with extra sauce to spread on the buns. From there, dig in.
This goes exceptionally well with a few cold beers/ a good scotch and good music. Bon Iver fits my bill perfectly. Their new offering Calgary (Click for FREE DOWNLOAD!) is utterly beautiful and I cannot wait for the rest of the album!
Things have been fairly relaxed over here for the past week or so. As has the eating. Communal 'dig in' and eat with your fingers eating has been the norm and the following recipe is one of my favorites. This has been altered from Alex Rushmers Momofoku Pork Bun's. I can heartily recommend the original recipe, but I've changed things just slightly so these buns can be made with tofu to make them vegan friendly, and when pushed for time in the evenings I make them with pork chops drizzled in hoisin sauce which I then shred with forks.
Any way, here is the recipe:
In a bowl mix:
365g Plain Flour
1tsp Salt
40g Sugar
To this add:
250ml ish Warm water
1.5tsp Yeast (I use quick acting)
1tbs Oil
I mix all of this with a wooden spoon. Its a soggy dough so its not so good for tipping out and kneading. If you have a bread machine this makes the whole thing so much easier...just whack everything in and put it on the dough setting. Just treat the dough roughly with a spoon until the dough gets a bit elastic.
Leave this to rise for 40mins, or a couple of hours or most of the day...as I often do.
Once the dough has risen, knock it back and separate the dough into 20 balls. Put these on squares of baking paper and leave them to rise again. This should take another maybe 20 mins.
From here all you need to do is steam the buns. They take 8-12 mins and I do them in my vegetable steamer.
From there, just serve. Like I said I serve them with tofu or pork cooked in hoisin sauce. I serve these with bowls of shredded cucumber and spring onion. I serve them with extra sauce to spread on the buns. From there, dig in.
This goes exceptionally well with a few cold beers/ a good scotch and good music. Bon Iver fits my bill perfectly. Their new offering Calgary (Click for FREE DOWNLOAD!) is utterly beautiful and I cannot wait for the rest of the album!
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Empress of India
Emmy The Great makes me happy. A slightly less Yorkshire Kate Rusby a-like with an indie edge. Emmy, born in Hong Kong, brought up in London and singing songs about the English countryside is what Thursday evenings are for. Her latest single Iris is on the BBC 6Music playlist at the moment and it has re-kindled my love of all things Emmy. Her style is very much in the new folk, or even anti-folk vein lends itself perfectly to the need for plinky plonky folk music and friends for dinner. Vegan friends.
I love cooking, but Vegan's nearly always stump me. I'm an enthusiastic meat eater; I will gladly partake in vegetarian meals but how on earth do you make things taste good without BUTTER/CREAM/EGGS/CHOCOLATE?! The art is, as far as I can tell, combining lots of fairly simple ingredients into something fabulous.
So for the Empress of India's Tarka Dahl you will need:
(Serves 4 with left overs)
Vegetable Oil
3 Onions (Sliced finely into rings)
Handful of green beans (ish)
Half a red pepper sliced
3 cloves of garlic
Broccoli (some?)
Hand ful of cherry tomatoes
500g Red Lentils
1tbs Cumin Seeds
1tbs Coriander Seeds
3 Cardamon Pods
1tsp Fenuigreek
1tsp Chili Flakes
1tsp Hot Chili Powder
Chipatti's
Vegetable Stock
Yoghurt (for those of us not into veganism!
I know the ingredients list sounds lengthy, but it is totally worth it, and when you've brought all the spices then this virtually becomes a store cupboard recipe!
I buy all my spices from the local Asian supermarket. You can get bags of most of the spices for less than £1 and then I just decant the spices into jars!
1) In a large pan heat a good slug of vegetable oil and and add 1/3 of the sliced onion rings and a clove of crushed garlic. Brown this gently.
2)In a separate small frying pan put them spices and heat for about 30 seconds, until they start to smell. Put this mix in a pestle and mortar (Or bowl and rolling pin combo in my case) and crush gently. Add 1/3 of this to the onions and garlic that is softening.
3)To this pan add all the lentils, stir and cover with water. At this stage you can add a chicken or vegetable stock cube if cooking for non vegans, but to be honest just salt and pepper will do the same job!
Allow this pan to simmer gently for about 45 mins.
4) While the first pan is simmering away add the remaining onions, garlic, and spices with another slug of oil into a frying pan. Allow the onions to soften gently for at least 7mins. Then just chuck in the rest of the vegetables. This is the Tarka that you put on the top of the lentils to make a super tasty dinner!
All that remains to do is to let the lentils cook until they are soft and put the tarka on top, a dollop of yoghurt at this stage is nice, as is a nob of butter in the lentils, but they are both really just unessential decadence!
I serve this with bought chipatti's and my vegan friends often provide their own accompaniment. Enjoyed with a few glasses of Vegan Vino Vino Yum Yum and a couple of Emmy the Great's CD's makes for a perfect evening in my opinion.
I love cooking, but Vegan's nearly always stump me. I'm an enthusiastic meat eater; I will gladly partake in vegetarian meals but how on earth do you make things taste good without BUTTER/CREAM/EGGS/CHOCOLATE?! The art is, as far as I can tell, combining lots of fairly simple ingredients into something fabulous.
So for the Empress of India's Tarka Dahl you will need:
(Serves 4 with left overs)
Vegetable Oil
3 Onions (Sliced finely into rings)
Handful of green beans (ish)
Half a red pepper sliced
3 cloves of garlic
Broccoli (some?)
Hand ful of cherry tomatoes
500g Red Lentils
1tbs Cumin Seeds
1tbs Coriander Seeds
3 Cardamon Pods
1tsp Fenuigreek
1tsp Chili Flakes
1tsp Hot Chili Powder
Chipatti's
Vegetable Stock
Yoghurt (for those of us not into veganism!
I know the ingredients list sounds lengthy, but it is totally worth it, and when you've brought all the spices then this virtually becomes a store cupboard recipe!
I buy all my spices from the local Asian supermarket. You can get bags of most of the spices for less than £1 and then I just decant the spices into jars!
1) In a large pan heat a good slug of vegetable oil and and add 1/3 of the sliced onion rings and a clove of crushed garlic. Brown this gently.
2)In a separate small frying pan put them spices and heat for about 30 seconds, until they start to smell. Put this mix in a pestle and mortar (Or bowl and rolling pin combo in my case) and crush gently. Add 1/3 of this to the onions and garlic that is softening.
3)To this pan add all the lentils, stir and cover with water. At this stage you can add a chicken or vegetable stock cube if cooking for non vegans, but to be honest just salt and pepper will do the same job!
Allow this pan to simmer gently for about 45 mins.
4) While the first pan is simmering away add the remaining onions, garlic, and spices with another slug of oil into a frying pan. Allow the onions to soften gently for at least 7mins. Then just chuck in the rest of the vegetables. This is the Tarka that you put on the top of the lentils to make a super tasty dinner!
All that remains to do is to let the lentils cook until they are soft and put the tarka on top, a dollop of yoghurt at this stage is nice, as is a nob of butter in the lentils, but they are both really just unessential decadence!
I serve this with bought chipatti's and my vegan friends often provide their own accompaniment. Enjoyed with a few glasses of Vegan Vino Vino Yum Yum and a couple of Emmy the Great's CD's makes for a perfect evening in my opinion.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Smoke Fairies and Sea of Bees, Brudenell Social Club, Thursday 30th January 2011
Last Thursday my dear friend C and I ventured into the bitter Leeds evening and found accommodation in the warm bosom of The Brudenell Social Club. The Brudenell could be no more perfect in my mind if it tried. Established in 1913 as a Gentleman's social and recreation club, (thank you Dr Wikipedia) the Brudenell has established itself over the past few years as a fantastic venue to enjoy up and coming bands in Leeds without gaining any of the pretensions and high bar prices that so often go hand in hand with rising fame as a venue. It maintains the best elements of working mens clubs and shuns the less desirable aspects of cool. That said, anywhere with Red Stripe on tap (still hanging on to my youth and drinking cheep larger in dirty clubs...) is all good by me.
Last Thursday saw no exception in the calibre of act offered by the Brudenell. We were treated to not one, but two wonderful post-folk bands. The opening act was the wonderful Sea of Bees, a musical project by Julie Ann Baenziger a Californian self taught singer-songwriter heralded in the last year by the Guardian as a "wondrous talent." Julie with support from a friend and bassist Abbey provided a wonderful set of haunting magical songs about being in love and as Baezinger herself put it "dreaming and floating over a prairie in the sun." Every song came with a beautiful dream like introduction and ethereal vocal. It is possible to liken Baensiger to Emiliana Torrini and Kate Bush, but that would be too simple. Baenzinger's talent is all her own, and wonderfully indescribable. We were lucky enough at the Brudenell to be able to buy copies of the Sea Of Bees album Songs for The Ravens which is due to be released 7th February 2011 and which I can heartily recommend.
Following Sea of Bees were the British folk duo Smoke Fairies.
The band made up of two front women, Katherine Blamire and Jessica Davies along with a Viola player, drummer and third guitarist filled the tiny stage at the Brudenell. The music of the Smoke Faeries will not have been missed by anyone with an ear to the ground on the folk scene over the last few years. The name Smoke Fairies is often found in the same sentence as Laura Marling and Noah and the Whale, and yet more often than not the Smoke Fairies offer something quite different. Many of the songs of the new folk scene seem to have lost the storytelling that went with the folk music of the 60s. However Smoke Fairies seem to resurrect that storytelling with style. Their work references not only British folk, but American blues and to some extent there is a country vibe that is unmissable. Although their stage presence was seemingly far more awkward than Baenzinger's Sea of Bees, (they came back on for an encore at great speed professing to fear that people would leave before they came back) there was an endearing quality to their lack of self assurance. Their music is undoubtedly beautiful and the quality of sound they produced was amazing. You really must excuse the quality of this recording, I was stood near the bar (quel surprise?) however this is Gastown:
Their recently released album Through Low Light and Trees is certainly worth a listen and the Smoke Fairies are on tour until 3rd February taking in both Bristol and London.
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