Liam Hayes and Plush, King’s Head 16/10/09

Tonight is a band outing for The Untied Knot – me and Matt hop a 91 bus for the long crawl to the nether regions of Crouch End in search of a fix of what the NME once described as a “one-man Love Unlimited Orchestra”. The gig is billed as Liam Hayes and Plush which is the official new moniker for 2009’s “Bright Penny” album.  Starting as we (it turns out) mean to go on we commandeer the 2 best seats in the venue, front and centre to the obvious dismay of the too-polite punters behind us. Not terribly English I’m afraid but that’s several ales and a one hour bus journey for yas, if you’re reading guys – sorry… Barring this unforgivable faux-pas, we settle in on our best behaviour as Liam lifts on his Fender Telecaster for the first number.  It appears the two Fender Rhodes and upright piano will remain untouched but just before a sense of mild disappointment sets in for both of us, the guitar is discarded for the second song and Mr Hayes is joined by his new right-hand man on duelling Fender Rhodes and synth bass – Mr Jimmy Rowland. I say “mild disappointment” as I would have been more than happy with a solo electric guitar set just like the brilliant one we witnessed at The Luminaire 12 months ago but finer still it is to witness my 4th variant on the Plush live sound since 1998.

Certain people talk about “outsider artists” but Liam Hayes and his music seems to exist in a timeless bubble somewhere on the outskirts of the music scene, untouched by any trends or concessions to the present millennium. Read the rest of this entry »

Into The Vortex – New Planes Of Ecstasy 9/10/09

Richard Youngs and Heather Leigh Murray’s swooping twin guitar maelstrom dissolves into an unaccompanied three word mantra drone and keeps me entranced throughout. I convince my companion “we” actually “could”n’t “do that ourselves” and we grab ourselves another drink.

Thanks to http://mapsadaisical.wordpress.com/ for this nice photo

Neil Campbell’s (a.k.a. Astral Social Club) set is the equivalent of ingesting a supercharged chunk of good acid during an electrical storm. As he plate-spins effects pedals and mic-manipulates layers of dense disjointed (near impossible to) dance (to) music, the visuals sketch out complex ever-changing geometric line patterns. Even the sound of a mobile going off during a subdued section doesn’t detract from this extended episode  of sensory euphoria. Sweet.

Skaters have cancelled so Alexander Tucker steps breach-wards with a set of looped cello narratives. I always enjoy his shows and always seem to catch him more by accident then design – this is no exception. The night is cut short as my companion requires a taxi to ferry us across London to last orders at a theatre bar – this, if nothing else is an excuse for tequila. Goodnight.

The Knot unTies on iTunes

“Sketches For A Lost Summer” is now available on iTunes with individual tracks at £0.79 each.
Forget your apps, get yourself a fix of music…

The Untied Knot on Spotify

“Sketches For A Lost Summer” is now on Spotify so you lucky people can hear the whole of the album by clicking here…

For those who aren’t familiar with Spotify – it’s a huge free on-line music streaming resource, effectively a radio station where you select what you want to hear.  As well as big-shots like David Bowie, Neil Young and The Beach Boys you’ll find all sorts of more esoteric stuff including loads of my faves like The Durutti Column, Robbie Basho & Popol Vuh.

Memory of a free festival

At the turn of the 1990s I was living in the South West London district of Tooting on a street which contained a row of housing association houses/ flats now sadly demolished to make way for a car park. Every summer, the adjoining gardens of the residents made way for a stage and a day of music, booze and general good-mannered mayhem known as Maybury Fest (and subsequently Longley Fest).
Like the Field Farm Festival, this was a fantastic event that ran on community goodwill and enthusiasm. The police would usually show up and stick their heads round but cheers to ‘em, they never intervened.
I have particularly fond memories of the Maybury Fest as I made my debut musical performance there playing a mix of Stones, Velvet Underground and Doors numbers in a combo tragically (but also brilliantly) named, The Velvet Underpants. The following year The Fables (see review right) made their live debut to an appreciative late summer crowd. Read the rest of this entry »

Mick Jones’ Rock n’ Roll Public Library

No, it’s not a comic strip from Viz, it’s a real life exhibition of stuff – books, magazines, clothes, instruments, posters etc. from Mick Jones’ personal collection.
Imagine The Clash/BAD/Carbon Silicon guitarist/front-man went on holiday and asked you to house-sit for him. Well, this is what it would be like – free to root around in his vast collection of music mags, poke about at his samplers, drum machines and synths, sit down and watch his videos, go through his wardrobes and nose around in his office. Read the rest of this entry »

Billy Childish, Rough Trade 14/8/09

On the way to Rough Trade in Brick Lane I cut down Fournier St where I spy for the second time up close;  two of our greatest national treasures, Gilbert and George. The first time was many years ago in Streatham Hill when I passed them in the street and on turning round for one final look, found George doing exactly the same thing to me! Anyway, as always, I digress (sort of) which brings me to Chatham’s own punk rock renaissance man – painter, poet, author, musician and of recent years, the very dapper Billy Childish. One of the few men who can carry a moustache and a collarless shirt with any sort of panache.
Childish is at Rough Trade for one of their regular free in-store gigs which make up a significant part of my own gift economy. The introductory abortive poetry set almost descends into farce Read the rest of this entry »

Listen to The Untied Knot

Norman Records

Those inestimable folks at Leeds’ Norman Records have some kind words to say about “Sketches For A Lost Summer”.

‘Sketches For A Lost Summer’ looks appealing. Beautiful cover art, recycled packaging and swish foam padded CD tray, lovely stuff. Music is pretty sweet too. The Untied Knot a.k.a Nigel Bryant (from 90’s indie rockers The Fables amongst others) makes the old acoustic six-string sing like a bird chorus on a summer’s morning. ‘An act of kindness’ sounds like Donovan jammin’ the soundtrack for BBC1’s Gardener’s World, and it sounds better than you’d think. This whole record oozes tranquillity….Bryant’s guitar does most of the talking but the occasional percussive element elevates the tracks and adds colour. Things even sway into psychedelic territory with the introduction of analogue synthesizers on ‘The Clocke Stopped At Mydnyte’ and ‘A Premonition’ among others. I can hear elements of The Byrds, John Fahey, Simon and Garfunkel, Donovan and Nick Drake…..All good references. If you like modern psyche influenced folk ala Static Caravan then you’ll dig this for sure. Limited to 500 copies so catch ‘em while you can.

Norman Records is my favorite independent mail order store, they’ve got a vast range, top service (free sweets!) and actually give a damn about new independent music – pop along and treat yourself to something nice…

Antichrist

I feel compelled to say a few words about Lars Von Trier’s latest film having seen it yesterday. I’m not giving much away but it’s probably better not to read this if you haven’t seen it.

The first thing I will say is that the controversy surrounding this film, though understandable is misplaced. The level of graphic violence is no worse than say, for example the opening scene of “Goodfellas” but because it is directed towards their procreative organs, many will instantly find it more disturbing.  For me, the sight of a person repeatedly smashing their own head against a toilet bowl is equally, if not more disturbing to view. If you want something truly horrific why not try “Irreversible“? As for the other accusation – to dismiss Von Trier as a misogynist on the strength of this film would be trite and disingenuous.

Read the rest of this entry »