Retro Review: Distant Sun

Barfly, Cardiff – May 2003

Close the distance to the sun

WELSH band Distant Sun won more fans with a tight set at The Barfly, showcasing their new EP which is due to be released this summer.

The four-piece, known to many in their former incarnation by the name of Drift, produce an interesting blend of indie pop with melodic tunes and interesting lyrics.

Lead singer Ben’s voice is strong and clear and the rhythm section of Gareth (bass) and Ian (drums) is solid. Dave (lead guitar) became more animated as the set progressed and at the end, it was obvious the band had warmed to their audience and vice versa so it came as a disappointment when the called-for encore was denied by the sound engineer who had already switched off the system.

Take a listen to their EP on the band’s website at www.distant-sun.co.uk.

From the wistful Why to Sing It Out with its memorable guitar hook and driving bassline to the acoustic guitar intro to Without You and my favourite, Break Me Down, with it’s Coldplay undertones, sounds as though it only needs a discerning radio DJ to pick up on them to catapult Distant Sun into the big time.

Distant Sun

Retro Review: Gene Pitney

St David’s Hall, Cardiff - 29/05/2003

Pitney stays strong to win ovation

AMERICAN pop legend Gene Pitney made another visit to South Wales this week to the delight of his loyal band of fans.

A prolific visitor to the United Kingdom since his chart-topping days in the 1960s, he was in fine form and looking extremely fit.

A credit to his personal fitness trainer.

He was one of many American singers who ruled the pop charts in the early 1960s, including Booby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Bobby Vinton, Fabian and Del Shannon before The Beatles appeared to change the music scene forever.

However while his competitors faded, Pitney showed he had staying power to regularly have hit records even when the groups had a stranglehold on the charts.

It is easy to forget just how many successes he had until he runs through them on his impressive stage show.

Having a classy 10-piece Maurice Merry Orchestra is certainly a bonus in recreating the songs just as they were on record.

Apart from the numerous hits, I’m Gonna Be Strong was the highlight, earning a standing ovation. The only disappointing thing for me was that he did not sing two of my personal favourites, Town Without Pity and 24 Sycamore but with such a selection of songs at he has to choose from it would be impossible to fit them all into one performance.

There was an interesting medley of hits Pitney wrote for other artists. I knew he had written Hello Mary Lou for Rick Nelson, but had forgotten He’s A Rebel for The Crystals with Phil Spector’s fabulous Wall of Sound production.

A tribute to Harry Belafonte was an unusual but delightful diversion with Gene accompanying himself on guitar for Kingston Town and Scarlet Ribbons.

Last year Pitney was inducted into the Rock & Rock Hall of Fame after seven rejections. A ridiculously long overdue recognition. He is also one of the few American pop artists to be the subject of a Grogg from world-famous South Wales sculptor John Hughes.

A brilliant show, and if anybody is interested in how the best of Sixties music sounded, this is the performer you need to check out. Pop music at its best.

Singer-songwriter Annie Sims opened the show with a country-flavoured selection. without being out of the ordinary., the highlight being her version of Kenny Rogers’ Sweet Music Man.

Gene Pitney

Retro Review: Erasure

St David’s Hall, Cardiff - 25/05/2003

Erasure at simply their pop -tastic best

THERE are few bands today who can get away with performing one of Elvis’s greatest ballads to a synthesized pop back beat.

And there are even fewer singers who can perform such a number dressed in a burgundy leather corset and hoop skirt complete with bustle.

But such are Erasure’s talents that what could have been a mocking version of Can’t Help Falling In Love fell perfectly into place in a set dominated by their greatest hits and some genuinely good covers.

Even Andy Bell’s camp persona could not get in the way of his beautifully powerful voice as he gave Elvis a run for his money to a sell-out crowd of die-hard fans and those seeking to recapture a little bit of their youth.

I was 13 when I first discovered Erasure and, as the performance gathered momentum – including a protracted striptease by Bell – the intervening years and all the music I have heard since disappeared.

I, like many of the crowd, was a teenager again, revelling in the chorus of Blue Savannah and A Little Respect, marvelling at Bell’s on-stage energy and Vince Clarke’s deadpan stance.

Like a hyperactive toddler Bell bounced across the stage in all-black Victorian mourning dress, tantalising the audience with risque glimpses of his stockinged legs in between renditions from the band’s big back catalogue, before proceeding to strip down to just his underpants half-way through the set.

It was the height of campness and wouldn’t have been out of place in a cabaret drag act, but Bell’s stage performance is part of the charm of Erasure and just what the audience was expecting.

There was very little to criticise in the set, except the cover of Make Me Smile which, in my humble opinion went one keyboard too far, although I appeared to be in a minority of one on this.

A quick change of clothing into Miami Vice-inspired white suits and Day-Glo string vests led onto the show-stopping final number before the obligatory encore.

If possible Stop! was better than when I first heard it all those years ago. This was Erasure at simply their pop -tastic best.

By MB

Erasure

Retro Review: Inspiral Carpets

Pop Factory - 15/04/2003

Mad for pop !

THE legendary Inspiral Carpets added even more sunshine to a glorious April day as their sensational summer sounds increased the soaring heat at The Pop Factory.

The five-piece Inspiral Carpets are led by enigmatic vocalist Tom Hingley (a regular visitor to Cardiff with his current outfit The Lovers) and Porth veteran Clint Boon.

Boon provides The Pop Factory theme music and has played the venue before with The Clint Boon Experience.

The band could not have demonstrated more delight in both their own unity and the positive reception of a large gathering of Rhondda revellers.

After an eight-year lay off, the lads have returned to promote a box set best of compilation Cool As... (on Mute Records).

They are in fine fettle and their brilliant back catalogue is a joy to behold.

The 37 timeless and triumphant tracks of Cool As... are sparkling – whether it be the hits or rarities!

The charts were occupied with many an Inspiral Carpets classic during the maelstrom of Madchester – and, alongside The Happy Mondays, The Stone Roses and The Charlatans, pop history was created as Lancashire ruled the roost of ’90s music.

The Inspiral Carpets were top 40 regulars with such stirring anthems as Joe, This is how it Feels, Move and the rousing I want you (featuring the mercurial Mark E Smith of The Fall).

These seminal singles run alongside wonderful and unpredictable cover versions of Tainted Love and The Black Sabbath classic Paranoid on the new anthology.

On their valley visit the lads struck gold with the infectious indie inspiration of Come Back Tomorrow and Saturn 5.

The audience could only marvel at the pop perfection of one of our finest musical exports.

When interviewed post-gig, Boon and Hingley – rather tongue-in-cheek – claimed it was the Prime Minister who called for their reformation!

As the song title says Come Back Tomorrow because Welsh music fans wish to take this magical and inspiring carpet ride once more!

By RJ

Inspiral Carpets

Retro Review: The Maccabees

Cardiff University - 13/05/2009

HERE’S a question for you: Which band that you like the least have you seen play live the most? For me it’s The Maccabees.

I somehow found myself watching the Brighton five-piece again this week and where previously I was unequivocal – I didn’t like them – their gig at Cardiff Students’ Union has muddied the waters.

Their just-released second album, Wall Of Arms, is a much more powerful rock record than its flat predecessor Colour It In.

That jump in scale and ambition works well on record but in the live arena it illuminates their failings. And Orlando Weeks is a real vacuum on stage.

I liked the White brothers’ contrasting guitar vibes – Felix celebrated like a frustrated frontman while Hugo leered with dangerous eyes at the crowd – as well as Rupert Jarvis’ funked-up bass work and Sam Doyle’s sweetly aggressive drumming.

But while earlier songs such as Toothpaste Kisses are genteel enough to let Weeks’ wet sounds emerge, songs from the second album, played with real gusto, simply overpowered Weeks.

On opener No Kind Words his vocal was beyond apologetic, and was barely audible. 

And the sound isn’t to blame because when he actually leans into his mic properly, he is perfectly audible.

Oddly, it’s the limpness that many of the band’s fans love and girls tend to fall for his soppiness and propensity to make heart shapes with his hands as he introduces love songs, but he occasionally betrays himself with confidence and visibly reins it all in.

The Maccabees are not a bad band; they have a lot of talent and Weeks is key to the writing, but they will remain an unfulfilled promise until their frontman really steps up to the mic.

The Maccabees

Retro Review: Wine, Women and Song

The Globe, Cardiff - 22/05/2009

THREE of Nashville’s most celebrated singer-songwriters sit alongside each other on the stage, each armed with an acoustic guitar in front of a near sell-out crowd.

The stage backdrop suggests a boudoir and there is an air of easy intimacy throughout the evening as three wine bottles are uncorked and consumed by Matraca Berg, Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss, a trio of friends who have not been corrupted by commercialism, while they chat and sing to each other with the audience almost voyeurs.

Wine, Women and Song is a country-tinged production. Peters sits in the middle and does most of the talking, but each takes it in turn to perform a song with minimal accompaniment from the other two.

This is both a strength and a weakness. The three recorded a six-song EP last October which the current tour is promoting but they are anything but a group and there is little interaction musically, at least until the end when cover versions of Wild Horses and If You Leave Me Now are dusted down.

Though similar, they also have marked differences, Berg more introspective and bluesy, Peters with the earnestness of a folk singer and Bogguss with the lighter touch. 

It makes for a compelling whole. The three have been touring together for two years and, like the best wines, are maturing with age.

Wine, Women and Song

Album cover maker a hit from Treorchy

HIS art work has been on every bus station hoarding, every billboard, every boarded- up house, and on a lot of T-shirts in the last few months, but you won’t know his name.

His designs adorn the album covers of some of the most cutting- edge dance groups and last month global phenomenon  The Prodigy  sported his artwork on their latest album, Fat of the Land.

 Alex Jenkins , a 25-year-old from Treorchy, is the in-house graphic artist for record label XL recordings, and just 18 months ago was plucked from obscurity working for Caerphilly firm Label Image, and thrust into the mass-market, high-volume, in-yer-face world of the music business.

“I suppose every graphic designer dreams of working for a record company, because it allows you to be very creative and you also get to work in the world of music, and get to see your work in record shops, everywhere in fact.

“It is my job to come up with a clear concept that can be used as a branding tool. That is why the crab image works for the album, because it works on billboards, T-shirts, and on the side of buses.”

Jenkins worked very closely with the creative genius of  The Prodigy , Liam Howlett, thrashing out ideas for the albums graphics.

“Liam and I would telephone each other to talk about ideas and to brainstorm for new ones.

But for a last-minute change of heart by Liam Howlett the album cover could have been very different.

“We actually went through with a photo shoot for an album design that was pulled. We had a chunk of kebab meat branded with the record title, Fat of the Land, and arranged a photo shoot in a kebab shop with all the band, but Liam changed his mind.

“I had one night to come up with a completely new design. I had to get that design done even if it meant not sleeping, because we had to get a design off to the licensers in America the very next day.

“I found an image of a small crab, blew it up on the computer and then tweaked the background. It was midnight and I was really tired and at the end of my tether. I thought let’s go for it. I faxed it through to Liam from my desk and fell asleep. Luckily he liked it. It was a much better image.”

Jenkins’s rise has been rapid indeed, graduating recently from Bath University with a First in photography and graphics. As a fledgling designer his idols were Vaughan Oliver of V23, celebrated album cover designer of American indie band the Pixies, and Peter Saville, designer of New Orders album covers. In what must be a pinch-yourself situation Jenkins now shares office space next to Oliver and counts him as a friend.

By TW

Alex Jenkins (Circa September 1997) with his album cover design for the Prodigy album The Fat of the Land.

The Kinks....that gig in Cardiff

A biography into The Kinks revealed, the group’s celebrated career was almost cut short before it had even begun thanks to one tumultuous gig they played in Cardiff in 1965.

The Muswell Hill four-piece were appearing at the city’s now defunct Capital Theatre when simmering tensions within the band shockingly came to the boil in front of thousands of Welsh fans, resulting in drummer Mick Avory hospitalising guitarist Dave Davies and fleeing into the summer night with South Wales police in hot pursuit.

“There’d always been a lot of underlying aggression and friction within The Kinks and, while the most common assumption is that most of it stemmed from Ray and Dave Davies’ sibling rivalry, it was actually Dave and Mick who came to blows most often,” says author Rob Jovanovic, who spent three years compiling interviews with those close to the band for his book, God Save The Kinks .

“In fact, it was at a show in Taunton that one such confrontation turned physical and left Dave with a pair of black eyes.”

And, come the following night’s show in Cardiff, Davies was finding his simmering anger as hard to disguise as his shiners, despite the big pair of dark glasses he’d now taken to wearing on stage.

“There have been so many interpretations of what happened that night and, of the several different people I talked to about it I must have got several different answers,” adds Jovanovic.

“But basically it seems like Dave and Mick had got into another disagreement over each other’s playing style, prompting the former to kick over the drum kit and the latter to subsequently smash him over the head with a drum pedal.

“And, upon seeing Dave lying motionless, Mick hightailed it out of the venue, his frilly shirt and pink hunting jacket flapping in his wake.”

In the chaos which followed an unconscious Davies was rushed to Cardiff Royal Infirmary where he received 16 stitches, while Avory – convinced he’d killed his band mate – went into hiding.

However, all charges against him were dropped.

“That could have been the end of The Kinks right there – it really had a tremendous emotional effect on me,” sighed Ray, 65, who returns to the scene of the crime tonight to play a solo show at St David’s Hall.

“We were just kids, don’t forget – Dave and Mick were just 17 and 19 back then and forever having a go.

“I just guess that on that evening Mick decided to do something about it, and that meant cutting my brother’s head off!”

The story goes that the attack came as a reprisal for the guitarist kicking over the drummer’s kit as revenge for a drunken fight the previous night in Taunton, apparently won by Avory.

Just two numbers into their set at the Capital , Davies apparently goaded him by saying: “Why don’t you get your c*** out and play the snare with it? It’ll probably sound better.”

In the chaos that followed, an unconscious Dave was rushed to Cardiff Royal Infirmary to receive 16 stitches, while Avory fled the venue and into the night – convinced he’d killed his band mate.

“Yeah, the police wanted to do Mick for attempted murder. News At Ten even interviewed him later on that night from a secret location,” recalled Ray, who admitted to carrying on playing “for a few beats” oblivious to what was going on behind him.

“When they finally caught up with and arrested him, Mick tried to deny it all.

“But the cops turned round and said ‘Mr Avory, we’ve got 5,000 witnesses!’.”

Ray’s brother did eventually drop all charges.

Valley Kink

Did you know that Ray Davies of the Kinks has a Rhondda connection?

In a book, by Ray’s brother and band guitarist Dave called Kink. An Autobiography, it states that their paternal grandfather Harry Davies came from Rhondda.

Below is the YouTube interview about the incident

The Kinks talk about early trials and tribulations....especially how they were banned in the USA from 1966 to 1969

The Kinks