Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 3

The grand finale. Two great bands to see. (Well one great one, and one trading off past greatness). This was going to seal the weekends festivities on a positive note.

We didn’t get there too early. 7pm-ish. First problem – Echo and The Bunnymen were a no-show! Apparently McCulloch didn’t board the flight. I’m assuming that he couldn’t face the embarrassment of trawling through the turgid pop-fest of “The Fountain”. Alternatively, he cold have left “The Fountain” at home and just come out to Dubai with his first 4 albums. We’d have been happy with that. Very happy in fact. But he chose to disappoint his (small) group of fans in Dubai. In retrospect I ended on a high rather than a disappointment and that was good, so thanks.

First up were/was (?) Dan Black. Toby Kebble look-alike (Northern Soul/Dead Mans Shoes era) with extreme-low-slung-gussett action. His MySpace page said Jay-Z and Sigur Ros as influences. ??? Stumped. Not impressed. All I remember was the guy leaping around, like an E-fuelled Quazimodo. Pants. (Literally).

Then came half of The Parlotones. Apparently the other half didn’t clear Dubai Immigration. The singer explained that this wasn’t their normal way of making music and that they didn’t feel too comfortable. But, they put on a good show. They sounded great. Of course, quite minimal (only rhythm guitar and drums), but enjoyable. The vocals were some of the best I’d heard all weekend. They obviously didn’t feel comfortable and exited after only a few tracks. Shame. They probably do fit into my bed-wetters category, and his David Gray-esque head wobbling annoyed me, as did his hat, but, they turned up and sounded great in less than optimal circumstances. Respect is due. Thanks.

Alphabeat. Where did these come from (ok – Denmark)? What I mean is, where were these supposed to fit in tonights billing? This was Euro-pop  in its most extreme. Hints of Aqua. Barbie doll vocals. Lots of leaping, prancing and tambourine beating. They should have been on at Chi, not warming up the crowd before the Super Furry Animals. Bad choice of sequencing. Not bad. Just not me. More MacDonalds kids party than SoundCity.

By the time the Super Furry Animals came on stage I was looking for a lifeline. Something to rescue the festival from a poor Day 2 and a confused Day 3. Of course they didn’t disappoint. I can’t remember their whole set. Gruff name-checked  the absent headliners with “We’re Echo and The Bunnymen, from Cardiff”! They focussed on “Dark Days/Light Years”; “Crazy Naked Girls”, “Mt.”, “Inaugural Trams” and “The Very Best Of Neil Diamond”. From the back catalogue I remember “Demons”, “Slowlife”, “Rings Around The World” and “Juxtapozed With U”. Considering the size of the crowd (which had started to drift away), we had a rousing rendition of “Earth” accompanied with appropriate signage and silly finger waving. Brilliant.

SFA rescued the weekend. They sent me home on a high. Mrs. P saw them for the first time and, naturally, was bowled over. Doves and SFA. Two bands bookending the festival and to be truthful making it worth the entrance fee.

Until next year.

The End.

Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 3 Gallery

Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 2

Day 2 was destined to be a long day, and with the line-up holding little in terms of interest I wasn’t overly enthusiastic. We arrived late afternoon to complete silence. No DJ. No band. A very subdued crowd. Due to the close proximity of a mosque the organisers had been requested to show respect by not playing music during prayer-times. Fine, that was to be expected. However, the organisers clearly hadn’t considered this when they had put together the schedule since they were way behind. Coupled with the fact that De La Soul had cancelled, the crowd wasn’t in a particularly buoyant mood.

De La Soul dropping off the bill didn’t worry me. But the long periods of silence which permeated throughout the afternoon and evening certainly contributed to the flat atmosphere.

Off to the bar. First drinks of the afternoon. The Murphy’s had floored me the evening before so I was switching to the more “pop-like” Strongbow (UK English “pop” = deviant English “soda”). I’m a very observant chap, and as I stood waiting for my beverages to arrive I couldn’t help noticing a gentlemen chatting to 2 young ladies.

Him = a cross between Steven Tyler/Mika/Cedric Bixler-Zavala. Tight jeans. Pashmina. Suede/velvet jacket. Levantine origin (maybe). Precious. Goatee. (Ok, my goatee looks masculine).

The conversation fragment I overheard -

Him “yeah, I was at a party, he was there”

Them “ooooooh”, giggle, blush

Him “you know Marc Bolan”

Them “erm”

Him “T-Rex”

Them “oh, yeah, yeah, yeah” (no clue)

Him ” well he said I was the next Marc Bolan……..with a beard”

Them “oooooooh”

Marc Bolan wasn’t the image that appeared in my mind, the beard was closer. Off he strutted, his pashmina dancing along the ground behind him – oh, and he wore Converse without laces. (Very punk-rock!).

The first band we saw up was “We Have Band”. Entire band in white. Drummer/vocalist without shoes. Lady vocalist cling-film wrapped legs in white latex. Lena Lovitch lookalike? Some other guy. Rubbish. More post-post-punk-revivalist-elctro-art-school-toss. Get off. I’d rather listen to Kylie. (And she has far better outfits!)

Then something very strange happened. The DJ (iPod) kicked in at the same time as a shadowy figure started moving around on stage. I noticed a pashmina being wrapped around a mic stand and a bit of dance-like posturing (Steven Tyler/Mick Jagger). Mrs. P made the ridiculous suggestion that the shadowy apparition was singing. Further concentration proved her correct.  An undercurrent of beats started to surface and so did a vocal (barely). It was Marc Bolan with a beard! Still don’t know who he was – but his set ended with him complaining about the sound quality, knocking over his mike stand and storming off stage in a huff! Precious. Oh, most definately. Marc Bolan – my arse!

Who was that pashmina’d man?

Gabriella Climi. No photos. What was that about? Great voice. No musical style. She started like a cleaned up Amy Whinehouse and metamorphosed into Avril Lavigne. But I’m sure there were plenty of young bucks down the front who wished they’ve not put on skin-tight jeans!

The switches between bands were now beginning to get slower and slower (or so it seemed). Given the quality of most of the music it wouldn’t have mattered if they set up the microphones in a tin bath. But it further contributed to the stop-start nature of the evening.

The Automatic are from Wales. They looked a bit like The Futureheads, tried to emulate the same type of (copied) sound, but weren’t as good. But 10/10 for effort. They certainly kept the crowd bouncing. Call me an old-fart if you will, but I grew up on lyrics penned by the likes of Ian Curtis, Morrissey, Mark E Smith (??), Edwyn Collins, David Gedge etc. What does “what’s that coming over the hill, it’s a monster” mean? Basically, pick a riff, make it fast, wear tight jeans, and sing after me ….. “there’s a onion in my pocket and it sounds like tom jones, tom jones, tom jones”.  Oh, dear. The state of British music.

I was really hoping The Courteeners would do something for me. They were ok. File under non-challenging-indie-jingly-jangly. End of discussion.

Me and Keith sat out Ocean Colour Scene in the bar. Oh dear. We didn’t even realise they were on. But who wants to see Paul Weller’s backing band? It’s like Chas without Dave.

Onto the grand finale! The Happy Mondays. Or, not. It was a sad sight. Poor old Shaun William Ryder shuffling around in the background while Rowetta (was it Rowetta or a stand in?) fronted. No Bez – passport problems. Poor. Of course the stock-brokers and real-estate agents loved it, reliving their e-fuelled heady days of 1989. (Do the math – you were all 6 at the time!).

Home to bed. Hope Day 3 is better, Day 2 was atrocious.

Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 2 Gallery

What’s Playing

A quick 20 most recently played (so this is over the last 2 days). I’ll be doing day 2 of Dubai SoundCity 2009 whilst I’m waiting in Doha airport at 7am tomorrow morning.

1. Today 3 – Part Chimp
2. Spiders, Snakes – A Weather
3. Rough Steez – Fuck Buttons
4. Alhazred – Team Brick
5. Witching Stone – The Black Heart Procession
6. Thriller! – Pere Ubu
7. I Lived My Life To Stand In The Shadow Of Your Heart – A Place To Bury Strangers
8. Biodh An Deoch Seo ‘n Láimh Mo Rúin – Julie Fowlis
9. Genesis 30:3 – The Mountain Goats
10. The Faint Horizon – Piano Magic
11. Wild Wolves – Athlete
12. Recovery Position – Piano Magic
13. Left For All The Strays – Grand Archives
14. Hurricane Drunk – Florence And The Machine
15. Lost Feeling – A Place To Bury Strangers
16. You Can Always Have More – The Longcut
17. We Almost Had A Baby – Micah P. Hinson
18. Don’t Hold Your Breath – Athlete
19. Find Me A River – John Head
20. Last Chance – The Black Heart Procession

So there it is. P

Wild Swans – New Single

Head over to the Occultation website (http://www.occultation.co.uk/) and place your order for the new Wild Swans single. It’s called Liquid Mercury and it’s pretty good. They’ve also announced another live event (one that I won’t be heading home for unfortunately) in December ahead of the album release. I’ve got my order placed, and I’ve already received my MP3 downloads. Fantastic.

While you’re on the site check out the “The Granite Shore” release. Don’t know anything about the band except it’s a great release.

Cheers. P.

Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 1 Gallery

Dubai SoundCity 2009 – Day 1

We’ve had “festivals” before. We’ve had “big-names” before. However, there was something about SoundCity that set it apart immediately. For me it was a chance after 13 years to watch some bands that I actually wanted to see!  Looking back at 13 years, there was Paul Weller (with terrible sound) and Jose Gonzales (with terrible sound), but neither would have been first on my list if they’d been playing Manchester. So there was a lot riding on this.

I identified a list of bands I had to see, essentially a list of four; Doves, The Courteeners, Super Furry Animals and Echo and The Bunnymen. The remaining bands would be a bonus.

We joined the first day at around 7pm. Within moments of arriving The Farm kicked off their set. It was exactly what we expected, a competent cabaret-esque trawl through their hits from a bygone age. Please, don’t get me wrong, it was good. Enjoyable. But I don’t understand why promoters/organisers in Dubai believe they have to book bands from the baggy or Britpop eras! Been there, done that, grew up. There have been several successful events and club-nights around the city over the last few years that have proved decisively that there is a market for current, challenging independent music. But like I said, The Farm – enjoyed it. Of course they closed with “All Together Now”. (Now a surprise appearance by Pete Wylie would have been a treat).

The Futureheads. Next band up. I didn’t know what to expect. From Sunderland apparently. The certainly put the effort in and had the crowd bouncing. I think the 21 age limit on entrance had certainly been blown several times – the “mosh-pit” was certainly well populated by sixth-form students.

(Just a quick comment on “mosh-pit”. When did that enter the English language? It sounds American to me. With a rock-tinge. It was always “down-the-front” when I went to concerts. You didn’t go down to the front to “mosh”, you went there to get crushed to death, spat on or brutalised by a pyscho. Mosh. Hmmm. Let’s leave the moshing to death-metal fans).

Back to The Futureheads. Like I said, lots of effort. Good fun. And their closing cover-version of “Hounds Of Love” was excellent. They’ve certainly got something to offer.

Then came Doves.

These were the guys I was waiting for. My mate Phil brought me their first album over from the UK back in 2000 and I’ve been following them ever since. I’ve had a love-hate relationship with some of the albums. Initial dislike, followed by appreciation (for the more recent releases); Kingdom of Rust having received minimal iPod or CD Player play-time since it arrived. The same Phil had informed me by SMS a couple of days before that their live sets were really good at present, so I was looking forward to the show. They didn’t disappoint. Snowden, Kingdom of Rust, There Goes The Fear, Cedar Room……..every track a gem, and played live, sounding even better.

For those of you who missed it, my sympathy. You’re not going to see anything like that in Dubai for at least a year. This wasn’t music-for-bed-wetters (a la Coldplay or Keane) or thinly-veiled stadium rock (Kings Of Leon). Doves are the real deal.

They should have played for longer (that’s one complaint about the festival – the headliners were not on long enough). But eventually they had to give the stage up to the old-guard.

Phil Oakey. Bald. Tall. Hot. Must have been very hot in that long, dark woollen overcoat. The girls. Still can’t sing. Still look great. It was a greatest hits medley, end-to-end. It was also entertaining. (In a similar, cabaret act vein as The Farm). They broke the hits with a stunning rendition of Empire State Human, but that was it for the good stuff. We had to suffer “The Lebanon” of course. They are iconic. And respect is due. They were entertaining.

So there closed Day 1.

Overall. A great evening. The event was slick. The band changes quick. Unfortunately this was not to continue.

Warp20 Boxset

The box arrived yesterday. I could tell it wasn’t a standard delivery. The shipping was secure and I could feel the weight of the vinyl as I carried it to my car. Obviously I’d seen the pictures on the Warp website so I knew exactly what I was getting, but in-the-flesh it was a design dream. For those of you who don’t know, and are too lazy to follow the link below – this commemorates 20 years of Warp. I can actually remember buying my first Warp release; Surfing on Soundwaves by Polygon Window. I was in HMV in Manchester and I was attracted by the sleeve (doh! my continued downfall). There was some sort of write-up, but I took no notice, the track names were intriguing, the sleeve was beautiful (more Brody than Saville), I had to purchase it. And that was my start of my Warp-ination.

Back to the box in hand. The CDs look to cover; (chosen) – 2 CDs, one chosen by the fans the other by Steve Beckett. Beckett’s selection is particularly good mixing old and new Warp artists. (recreated) – 2 CDs, with Warp artists covering other Warp artists tracks, once again, a good selection and some tracks that I’m looking forward to hearing (Bibio covering Boards Of Canada and Pivot covering Grizzly Bear). (elemental) – a single CD which looks like a mix. (This is car fodder for me – I can’t do mixes on my HiFi lying on the sofa, just doesn’t seem right).

Then we’re onto the vinyl. Stunning debossed 10″ sleeves. Three fall under the title of (unheard) – I think that’s probably self-explanatory. Once again a good cross-section. (As long as there’s a Autechre and Boards of Canada track I’ve got a smile on my face – Clark, Plaid, Elecktroids, Flying Lotus, Nightmares on Wax, Broadcast and Seefeel just make it beam wider).

Then we end on two 10″ disks bearing the title (infinite). (I had to google this one). “2 x 10” vinyl cuts of hand-picked locked-groove loops from Warp tracks. Four sides of loops for mixing fun. Exclusive to Warp20 (Box Set) and housed in uncoated card sleeves with debossed covers.” Should be fun!

The book just seals the experience. Every release meticulously photographed in a book that deserves an independent release of its own. So much better than the Warp “Labels Unlimited” book.

I’ll be placing my order for the (unheard) CD – and that’s my only complaint! Download codes Warp! Download codes! Reward those who bought by giving them download codes for all the 10″ releases.

Here’s the link. You can buy all the releases separately, so if you haven’t discovered Warp, dive in!

http://warp.net/records/releases/warp20/warp20-box-set

Oh yes….the image size. Yes, deliberate! I wasn’t going to shrink something that beautiful!

p

Mauritius – La Morne

Our one week vacation comes to a close. One week in Paradise. Well, maybe a week too early. Looks like Paradise starts next week! We arrived at the end of the Winter and judging by the changes in weather, and local comments, the Summer’s just about to start.

Bit of a mixed response to this place. The island’s not as beautiful as I expected. You find yourself driving through unfinished slum-villages a lot of the time. Quaint – in a bomb ravaged sort of way. Rustic with a tinge of decay. There are a couple of picturesque spots but nothing I’d class as jaw-dropping.

Our resort was a wind and kite-surfing haven. Which, we’d definately have tried if the weather had been better. (The seas were a little too choppy to learn on!) So lots of bronzed surfer dudes making me look rotunt and albino-pale in comparison. Doh! To be young again.

The service at the resort was atrocious. Service with a grimace. My short fuse burned brightly most days. The Director will be getting an e-mail once I get home. I’ve never experienced such a bunch of miserable gits under one hotel roof. Organisation, very sub-continental i.e. too many layers of control, too many bodies and no coordination. (Brawn over brain!)

But I’m painting a harsh picture. The value for money was good. It was relaxing. The weather was ok. Just don’t expect service to blow you away!

I’ll post some pictures once I’ve processed them.