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February 19, 2014

PREVIEW: Toy + The Proper Ornaments, The Grafham Water Sailing Club @ The Rainbow, Fri 21st Feb

Toy come back to Birmingham on Friday 21^st Feb, headlining The Rainbow in Digbeth with support from The Proper Ornaments and The Grafham Water Sailing Club – brought to you by Birmingham Promoters (new trees have been planted to combat the environmental impact of this event’s bill posters).

Out on the road with a new album, Join the Dots – released through Heavenly Records in Dec ’13, Toy have been touring nearly non-stop since last October; including one support slot with Palma Violets and full tour support with Placebo across Europe. Toy also recently headlined a 10 date tour across North American and Canada, returning to the UK for their first home country gig of 2014 on Feb 18^th. Toy were last in Birmingham supporting Pacebo the O2 Academy on Dec 12^th 2013.

Formed in 2010, Toy played their first gig supporting The Lexingtons in December that year. Usually catagorised somewhere between Psychedelic and Punk, Toy’s first eponymous album is a 12 track wave of heavy shoegazing, produced by Dan Carey.

Join the Dots, again produced by Carey, carries 11 tracks with a lighter (sort of kind of) approach, jumping between Swervedriveresque (Mescal Head) riffs, pneumatic baselines and raw & ethereal melodies. A touch calmer (…?) tune friendly and structured (..???) than their first LP endevour, Join the Dots is an exciting evolution for Toy – a band who could have disappeared beneath their own hype but appear to be swimming gracefully.

And with a tour schedule that would test the hardiest Dylan backing band, Toy are not shy of on stage endorsement. Toy‘s Rainbow gig on Friday will be the second in an over 40 date tour across Europe – ending just in time for a solid festival season.

Toy play at The Rainbow on Friday 21^st Feb, with support from The Proper Ornaments & The Grafham Water Sailing Club.

John Noblet will be there for a Birmingham Review – with pics from Jonathan Morgan.

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For gig info & tickets, visit http://birminghampromoters.com/Events/toy-2

For more about Toy, visit http://www.toy-band.com

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For more from Birmingham Promoters, visit http://birminghampromoters.com

For more from The Rainbow Venues, visit http://www.therainbowvenues.co.uk

February 18, 2014

PREVIEW: The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain @ Symphony Hall, Weds 19th Feb

On Weds 19^th Feb, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain return to Birmingham, bringing their ‘Fistful of Ukuleles’ tour to the Symphony Hall.

The show will feature The Ukes reworking ‘music from Tchaikovsky to Nirvana via Otis Reading’, with the ensemble also performing Spaghetti Western film scores. The tour’s title is taken from The Ukes’ 3^rd album of the same name, released back in 1994.

Birmingham Review last saw The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain when they brought their ‘Waly Walk on the Ukulele’ tour to the city in July 2012. Read Victoria Perk’s (a fellow Uke player) Birmingham Review here.

A current ensemble of 8 ukulele players, playing in different registers with vocal and harmonic accompaniment, The Ukulele Orchestra of Greta Britain first performed in 1985 as ‘a bit of fun’. After an ‘instant sell-out’ debut, the group continued to perform – releasing their first studio album, The Ukulele Variations on Sony in 1988.

Nearly 30 years later and The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain have played in festivals and venues around the world, from Carnegie Hall to Glastonbury Festival. Closer to home, The Ukes headlined the Moseley Folk Festival in 2010. To date, The Ukes have released eight studio albums and four live albums.

Sandwiched between gigs at Liverpool ‘s Philharmonic and Leicester’s De Montford Halls, The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain’s ‘Fistful of Ukuleles’ tour comes to Birmingham’s Symphony Hall on Wednesday 19^th Feb.

Althea Patterson will be there for a Birmingham Review.

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For more concert information & tickets, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk/event/ukulele-orchestra-of-great-britain-a-fistful-of-ukuleles

For more on The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, visit http://www.ukuleleorchestra.com

For further listings from the Town & Symphony Halls, visit http://www.thsh.co.uk

February 16, 2014February 16, 2014

SINGLE: Money On My Mind – Sam Smith

Today, Feb 16^th, sees the release of the second single from Sam Smith – Money On My Mind.

The radio friendly 3mins 33secs long track is the second single to come for Smith’s forthcoming debut album, In the Lonely Hour, scheduled for released on 26^th May through Capitol Records.

Money On My Mind is a soft piano/percussion exploration of the pressures Sam Smith now faces, with record label expectations increasing as his profile does. Following the success of Disclosure’s Latch in October 2012, where Smith’s vocals led an otherwise tempered UK Garage track, 2013 saw Sam Smith release his debut single – Lay Me Down, achieve a No1 position with his collaboration on Naughty Boy’s La La La single, collaborate with Nile Rogers and James Napier on Together, and release his debut Nivana EP. In February this year Smith also won the BRIT Critics’ Choice and the BBC Sound Of awards, encouraging music industry pundits to cite Smith as a ‘one to watch’ for 2014. Busy.

Money On My Mind wraps Smith‘s soulful vocals around a R’n’B meets UK Garage standard. The accompanying video shows Smith singing as he walks through Las Vegas vignettes, showing a quiet disdain for the fiscal focus of those around him.

Following the framework of Disclosure’s Latch, Money On My Mind is divide of restrain verses by an almost falsetto chorus. Moving away from the softer ballad, and stronger vocals, of Lay Me Down, Money On My Mind could be a concerted move back towards the mainstream Electronica that first introduced Smith.

Money On My Mind is released via Capitol Records today (Feb 16^th). To watch the official video, click here or on the image below.

For more on Sam Smith, including links to digital purchase platforms for Money On My Mind and Smith’s wider portfolio, visit http://samsmithworld.com

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Ed’s Note…

I’m not a modern Soul fan, often finding it too brash and arrogant. But Sam Smith has allowed me to dip my toe back in these more melodic waters without feeling inadequately bling. Money On My Mind is a masterful statement from an artist entering into such a fiscally driven genre and I, for one, applaud him for it.

On the down side, it’s a bit dull. Or perhaps low key; reminding me too much of Disclosure’s Latch, which is an exceptionally average production brought to life by refreshing vocals. Money On My Mind has more substance than Latch, but it still feels like a safe step in the right direction rather than a sprint.

But look, or rather read; in the second verse Smith sings:

Please don’t get me wrong,
I wanna keep it moving.
I know what that requires,
I’m not foolish.
Please can you make this work for me
Cause I’m not a puppet I won’t work against your strings.

Which is ballsy. Across 2014 the eyes of screaming teenagers, precocious gents in their early twenties, and the abacus obsessed A&R ax men will be staring at Sam Smith with an unwritten (or written in triplicate and signed) rule that they want what’s coming. Sam Smith is the latest in a long line of people being built up with little regard for an actual future, and Money On My Mind feels like a two fingered reminder that he’s ‘doing it for the love’.

So good for you S am Smith, I wish you well. And if we could have more opportunities to hear you f*cking belt it out, then even better.

Ed King is editor of Birmingham Review. Follow him @EdKing2210

February 14, 2014February 20, 2014

BPREVIEW: Basia Bulat @ Hare & Hounds, Sat 15th February

Basia Bulat comes to the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Sat 15^th Feb – promoted by SJM Concerts.

Recognised for her strong vocal led Folk, Bulat is also an accomplished multi-instrumentalist; playing, amongst others, the guitar, piano and her trademark autoharp.

Performing on the safer side of Valentine’s Day, Basia Bulat is only in the UK for a handful of shows before heading out to Scandinavia via one date in Amsterdam. Basia Bulat’s Feb 15^th gig at the Hare & Hounds will be the last chance to see her in the UK, on this tour.

Canadian born, Polish by proxy; Basia Bulat self released her first EP in 2005. Grabbing the attention of Rough Trade Records in London, Bulat was signed to the imprint and released her debut album, Oh, My Darling, in April 2007.

Following a swell of support in the UK and back in Canada, Oh, My Darling was licensed to Hardwood Records (the label owned by Canadian singer Hayden) for release across Bulat’s home country in June the same year. Basia Bulat followed her debut with Heart of My Own in January 2010, this time released through independent Canadian imprint – Secret City Records. Both albums were nominated for the Polaris Music Prize.

Basia Bulat released her third album, Tall, Tall Shadow, in September 2013, again through Secret City Records. Produced by Arcade Fire’s Tim Kingsbury (bassist) and Mark Lawson (producer), Tall, Tall Shadow is ‘a record with echo and reverb, electronic flutters and electric autoharp, voices that charge and incandesce around buzzing guitars, lonely piano and rattling percussion,’ according to Bulat’s website.

With musicians including Basia Bulat’s ‘punk inclined drummer’ brother Bobby, and established Canadian Folk singer/songwriter Ken Whiteley, Tall, Tall Shadow has been nominated in the Adult Alternative Album category at this year’s Juno Awards in Canada.

Basia Bulat comes to the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath) on Sat 15^th Feb – promoted by SJM Concerts. For more information & tickets, visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk/event-listings/event/?eventID=10029225

For more on Busia Bulat, visit http://basiabulat.com

For further listings at the Hare & Hounds (Kings Heath), visit http://hareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk

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Ed’s Note…

Undoubtedly (to me) talented, I have wanted to like Basia Bulat more than I did. With a powerful voice, one that lends itself to Gospel as much as (possibly more than) Folk, and a bevy of instruments to literally play with, Basia Bulat is a proper musician’s musician. Whereas I, who can just about fudge his way up and down a keyboard, am not – me, want, melody. Simples.

That’s not to say Basia Bulat can’t write, she’s not been idle since stepping into the world or write/record/release, but previous to Tall, Tall Shadow her songs have carried an air of jovial Folk that kept me at arm’s length. Sort of like Mumford & Sons, minus the desire to hurt myself with cutlery.

Which leads me onto Tall, Tall Shadow. A beautiful record; one reportedly inspired by sad times, but a move into a world which lets the proles like me roll around and clap along. The title track is an emotive opener, and by the time chorus #1 comes around I had shivers down my back.

Never Let Me Go, the album’s penultimate track, is as heartfelt as you would want to handle – with a chance for Bulat’s vocals to soar magnificent. Play, repeat, play, repeat, play… Whist the midway City of Rivers shows what the ‘all together now’ can sound like with some deft producers behind it. Ironically, Wires, the album’s ‘latest’ single is one of the weaker links for me in an otherwise solid chain. But a great evolution – one I hope gets Basia Bulat a deservedly warm reception on the road.

I am also intrigued to see how SJM Concerts hold the regional reigns on their own, with an oddly prominent prefix presents… Luckily this is England, February, and Birmingham to boot. You can always blame the rain.

Ed King is editor of Birmingham Review. Follow him @EdKing2210

February 9, 2014February 9, 2014

REVIEW: Rachel Sermanni @ The Glee Club, Fri 7th Feb

Words by Ed King / Pics by Mike Guest – www.stashmediaworx.com

Music reviews are a great marriage for me. But sometimes the shows I don’t see are the ones I remember more.

I should have been reviewing the last gig Rachel Sermanni played at The Glee Club, in September 2012, but I was an irritating 5,000 miles away. Holly Pyke covered it; stealing from me the chance to see Under Mountains in the flesh – an album I had been playing on religious repeat since I’d first heard it. But tonight is payback time; I’ve waited nearly 18 months and would now get my dues. I sidle into the back of the Studio Room full of an absurdly childish desire to sing in the dark.

What happens next could take up the rest of this review, but I won’t let it; for I am the keeper of words on this page. But I will expend some to say Mo Kenney, Mo Kenney, and just in case you didn’t get that. MO KENNEY; the laconic Nova Scotian armed with six strings and stories of plastic snake terrorism. A clandestine license to Middle of Nowhere Recordings and well worth some attention. More please. And I speak for the room.

After a short break and another glass of wine, Rachel Sermanni bounces softly on stage. Opening with Two Birds, the lead track from her recent Everything Changes EP, Sermanni strums out a confident tempo and builds her vocals, “…so sweet yet so bitter.” The melody feels a side step from the Rachel Sermanni I’ve got in my head and a positive new direction, one that may have occurred whilst in New Yor… hang on.

Keys. From somewhere, there are keys. All I can see is a pillar.

Breathe Easy comes next, which was the first Rachel Sermanni song I ever heard – on one of her Mahogany Sessions performances. I just want to listen. And again I hear keys; restrained and complimentary. I scribble ‘so beautiful’ in my notebook, knowing it won’t make my review due to being sycophantic and purple.

Following the Under Mountains track list, Bones gets delivered next with punchy vocal control (“Don’t…”) and mischievous storyteller eyes. By “I speak truth why, did you not, hold your ground” I realise I’m making notes in time with the music. Not good with my handwrit… and there, again; stolen from me by the wretched pillar, are keys. A perfect confluence.

A song I don’t recognise gets performed next, before Lay-oh swaps Sermanni’s guitar for (what I think is) a lute and keeps it centre stage for another track I don’t know. All three are new to me, and I’m so fervently behind 60% of Under Mountains (roughly, I did the math: 12-7/12×100) I tread carefully – fearing I might not give Sermanni’s new songs a fair trial. I want what I want. Me, me, me.

Luckily Rachel Sermanni’s stage presence and new material are both more mature than I, so I stay in the game. Plus I’ve never been able to turn down a sushi/fish segue. Black Hole comes next, the superb end track to Sermanni’s Everything Changes EP, and fills the room with tempered chords, vocals and heavy keyboard kisses peppering the end.

Sleep gives me another opportunity to relinquish my pen and sing (hopefully) to myself, before Everything Changes comes to life on stage in a way that a week’s worth of listening didn’t yet accomplish.

The Fog brings us closer to the end of what has been an awesome two sets, with the hidden keys returning to sit perfect and pretty from the second verse onwards. I’m as sucker for ivory, or its electronic cousin, and as we’re told Song to a Fox will close the show a penny drops in my head. Cue-wavy-screen-dream-sequence, the past… the past… the past…

It was with some trepidation I sat down to review Under Mountains in September 2012. I was abroad and had been ploughing my way through Rachel Sermanni’s online portfolio, loving the straightforward girl/guitar performances delivered with heartbreaking talent. My fear was that a producer’s ego might spoil it.

And at points my ego was right. But during Song to a Fox, the last track on the album, something curious occurred at 1min 13secs, and again at 3mins 22secs. A perfectly pitched piano. Alliteration allowed, it was the musical manifestation of sublime – like slipping into sleep; it was, and is, and always will be, just…

Back in the room, somewhere from the usually reticent Studio audience someone shouts out “MARSHMALLOW UNICORN”. And after a brief and unfair consultation (not asking me) the solid album track, along with Waltz, replaces something I’ve been waiting a long time to hear with only metres between us. I literally sink, into the dark corner where I once stood, and write some final notes in the emergency lighting.

Worth the wait. Don’t wait this long again. Better live. Wish ‘swimming with a whale’ had come from my head. Listen to Everything Changes at least 3 times before bed. Find out if whoever is playing the keyboard tonight played on Under Mountains/Song to a Fox. Find out what summer festivals Rachel Sermanni has booked. Find out if an hour can be late. Explore Middle of Nowhere’s wider roster. Love Black Hole live. Not so keen on Waltz. Always be thankful for the kindness of strangers.

And the last entry in my notebook, behind the lingering echo of request; simply, ‘robbed’.

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For more on Rachel Sermanni, visit http://www.rachelsermanni.net

For more on Mo Kenney, visit http://mokenney.com

For further listings at The Glee Club, including comedy and music, visit http://www.glee.co.uk