BRISTOL BIG JEFF: CUTTING FROM THE EDGE (JULY 2011)
Well June what can I say, my brain particles have started to separate due to lack of sleep, I cant help myself when it comes to live music, I feed off of the rhythm. Well, my brain pretty much imploded after this year’s Dot to Dot musical spectacle, which included a pumped up show from And You Will Know Us By The Trial of The Dead. There were also amazing shows from the frenetic Danananakroyd, Colourmusic and The Phoenix Foundation.
June kick started with my almost by monthly dose of The Computers. As per usual they were doing a support slot. they were supporting the Duke Spirit who were pretty cool. As many times as I have seen them live, they never get boring. Their singer did the usual climbing on the back of me and riding me through the audience.
I also saw the Bookhouse Boys swoon in the Louisiana with their Tom Waits meets the Bad Seeds rock’n’roll, all dressed in super suave suits. Alice Gold was supporting and after spending ages talking to me before the show she went on to perform with such a sweet and a great voice. Talking of good singers the following night, I saw Sparrow and the Workshop, a band I have real soft spot for. There is something about psychedelic indie Americana music that always touches me. But I have to say they were pretty much outdone by Meursault. You could see his blood vessels on the vocalist’s face virtually bursting when letting rip with some of the notes he was hitting. Imagine a Scottish mixture of Josh T Pearson and Arcade Fire. It took about 10 minutes for my rib cage to stop rattling.
Japanese classical post rockers Mono made me cry at the Fleece. I have never heard a guitar sound so orchestral and I felt like the conductor. It was just so breath-taking, I found myself whimpering with tears pouring down my face, I openly admit to being someone who cries a lot to certain music. It was so intense that it actually made me post the slightly sarcastic Facebook status saying it was the best sex I had never had! Then there was the pure joy Indie pop of The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, a band who’s name seems to sum me up perfectly as they sing about being slightly sad and lonely and always wanting love!
The following Monday saw me watch and completely fall in love with The Pierces. There is something about beautiful women making Carpenters style pop music that always gets to me and makes me smile, I dont what it is, but hey, I got hugs off the pair of them!
Also spent a weekend reminiscing about old music, firstly there was a one off re-union from Bristol pop rockers Halo, if you were around 8 or 9 years ago then you could not miss this band they were everywhere, they were hyped as the next big thing out of Bristol, so this brought me back many fond memories of me being in my late teens early 20s. I bumped into so many faces I hadn’t seen for ages.
Tune Yards, or tUnE-yArDs as how its written, was more then a bit special!. She was doing things with her voice I hadn’t heard since the last time I saw the Dirty Projectors play, a Mongolian form of chanting where she could split her voice into chords. It sounds incredible, plus she was really skilled musician layering loop upon loop of amazingness.
July equals festivals, festivals and more festivals. Topping my list is the wonderful Truck festival in Oxfordshire, with a line-up that includes Graham Coxon, Gruff Rhyse, St Etienne, Edwyn Collins, Bellowhead, Dive Dive, Jonquil, Mitchell Mueseum, John Grant, Tunng, Gabriel Prokofiev amongst many other names. It was one of my favourite festivals last year, and while the line-up isn’t quite so eclectic as it was last year, but it looks pretty damn good!
On the gig front, I am going to be doing my improv rap over Finglebone’s electronics, we are playing the Croft on July 12 and the Fleece on the 27th with Goan Dogs. Finally, one of my favourite bands EVER is playing the Fleece this month, Trans Am on July 11. A must.
