Thursday, August 15, 2013

Devilish Mary Duo - Live at the DarkRoom

Devilish Mary Duo
Live - The DarkRoom
Wednesday, August 14.

   Loneliness aches like a mother fucker, but the soundtrack sure is sweet. I caught Devilish Mary Duo at the Darkroom last night doing a set of classic torch songs - "Cry Me A River", "Stormy Weather", Nina Simone "Don't Smoke In Bed" and Doris Day's "Perhaps Perhaps Perhaps" are the ones I recognized - timeless songs, or at least song's from a time before popular music became teen music. These songs aren't "boy meets girl", they're about men and women, heart break and longing. Musically they reminded me of Django Reinhart ("Limehouse Blues" kinda feel), with the guitar and violin weaving a gypsy jazz magic. Vocally, oh man... any post-coital 3am memories you have will be triggered when you hear this woman sing... the way she put across the chorus of "Stormy Weather" had such a feel of heavy breath sexual intimacy I had to look away, some shit is just too personal. I haven't drunk in years, but I walked out into the night reeling... magic stuff.


Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions - Rattlesnakes

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions
Rattlesnakes
(Polydor, 1984)

As literate as Morrissey, but with a rock sound influenced by American groups like Love, the Byrds and the (obligatory) later Velvet's and early solo Lou, 'Rattlesnakes', the debut by Lloyd Cole and the Commotions still sounds fresh. Cole formed the band whilst studying English Lit. and Philosophy at the University of Glasgow, and he wasn't afraid to show his book smarts in his lyrics, causing some derision from critics at the time who felt it was just "name dropping", but fuck that... Cole's lyrical "name drops" are incredibly evocative, allowing him to create complex believable characters with just a few deft turns of phrase and cultural illusions, and much like Morrissey's lyrics, they provide a pretty good reading and viewing list for any suburban teenager looking for a way to connect to something a bit deeper and more emotionally resonant than their usual pop and rock diet ever could.

Rattlesnakes - Live, Top of the Pops (29-12-1984)


Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken - Live (11-03-1985)

and finally, the irresistible Traceyanne Campbell... 
Camera Obscura 'Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken'

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Luckless - The Darkroom, Christchurch (08/08/2013)

Luckless 

Live at The Darkroom 
Christchurch (08/08/2013)  

 This was something special... over two sets Ivy Rossiter (Luckless), just a beautiful girl and her guitar, made my heart reel and ache. With a stripped back skeletal guitar sound, heavy on the reverb and distortion, a strong confident voice of bruised sensuality and lyrics that seemed so personal I imagined them coming straight, un-edited from her diary, she held me spell bound from beginning to end.
   Though-out I was reminded of early Cat Power ('Myra Lee', 'What Would The Community Think'), Jason Molina, Billy Smog, even Hank Williams with his 'high lonesome sound', very No Depression broken heart-on-sleeve (alt) country. In amongst her own songs she scattered a selection of covers - Springsteen, Billy Bragg, Leonard Cohen, Gillian Welch - inhabiting each and making it her own. Choosing to cover tunes by such heavy hitters as those cats is, I hope, an indication that she knows how good her own writing is.
   So first thing on pay day I'm off to pick up her debut from last year... hopefully it will tide me over until the next time I get to experience some live heart ache.

   Luckless - 'Hawks'

Luckless - 'Hummingbird Heart'