The times we had
Oh, when the wind would blow with rain and snow
Were not all bad
We put our feet just where they had, had to go
Never to go
The shattered soul
Following close but nearly twice as slow
In my good times
There were always golden rocks to throw
at those who admit defeat too late
Those were our times, those were our times
And I will love to see that day
That day is mine
When she will marry me outside with the willow trees
And play the songs we made
They made me so
And I would love to see that day
Her day was mine
Wouldn’t it be nice if we were older
Then we wouldn’t have to wait so long
And wouldn’t it be nice to live together
In the kind of world where we belong
You know its gonna make it that much better
When we can say goodnight and stay together
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could wake up
In the morning when the day is new
And after having spent the day together
Hold each other close the whole night through
The happy times together we’ve been spending
I wish that every kiss was never ending
Oh Wouldn’t it be nice
Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray it might come true (run, run, run)
Baby then there wouldn’t be a single thing we couldn’t do
We could be married (we could be married)
And then we’d be happy (then we’d be happy)
Wouldn’t it be nice
You know it seems the more we talk about it
It only makes it worse to live without it
But lets talk about it
Oh, wouldn’t it be nice
good night my baby
sleep tight my baby
good night my baby
sleep tight my baby
good night my baby
sleep tight my baby
good night my baby
sleep tight my baby
I’m coming up only to hold you under
I’m coming up only to show you wrong
And to know you is hard and we wonder
To know you all wrong we were
Really too late to call so we wait for
Morning to wake you is all we got
To know me as hardly golden
To know me all wrong they were
And every occasion I will be ready for the funeral
And every occasion once more is called the funeral
Every occasion I am ready for the funeral
And every occasion one brilliant day funeral
I am coming up only to show you down for it
I am coming up only to show you wrong
To the outside
The dead leaves, they are alive
For they don’t have trees to hang their hearts
And every occasion I will be ready for the funeral
And every occasion once more is called the funeral
And every occasion I am ready for the funeral
And every occasion one brilliant day funeral.
Filed under: Music | Tags: Alessi, Andrew Bird, Ethan Johns, Johnny Flynn, Laura Marling, Laura Marling And Friends, Monk, Mumford and Sons, Peggy Sue, Pete Roe, Royal Festival Hall, Sons Of Noel And Adrian, Woo
This blog may be a little late in coming, but our total love for this gig is no less diminished. Where to start off in an evening of so many wonders. One of us was lost completely; in the zone, gone with the moment with head turned and focused upon a stage which bought out one amazing performance followed inexplicably by even more trance inducing, jaw tiring (from all the dropping) performances. On the other hand, the other struggled to keep calm and refrain from causing the forementioned friend severe bruising with the constant digs and jabs that would have resulted from hysterical, barely contained excitement…
The Royal Festival Hall is a beautiful venue, and by the time we got there the atmosphere was bustling pleasantly with friends gathered chatting, drinks in hand in excitement of the imminent musical extravaganza. There was a great seating area set on the floor of the Clore Ballroom where we sat wishing university was like so. Happy thoughts of the RFA were cast even before we reached our seats, at which point it was decided we would come back to sit in the wondrous balcony seats we likened to being a bit space age and slightly Star Trek.
The concert began with a warming, hearty video of none other than Laura Marling and friends. It was the perfect opening to the evening and it was truely great to watch footage of such a caring and close knit group bonded by friendship and music. It was a video that signified the importance of the social side of music – how playing, writing and showcasing music with others can bring people together and it became obvious that none of them could do what they do without having the support of the people around them.
After the video, Laura Marling walked on stage to give a brief introduction to the evening which was then followed by a new song of hers; ‘Oh Mama How Far I’ve Come’. A truly lovely song which filled the venue perfectly. We were absolutely astounded by the acoustics in the RFH, they made everything sound a million times better (which we didn’t even think was possible!).
The night was divided into two parts; each musician played one song of theirs which was then followed by a new song by Laura Marling in between. A short description of each performance can be read below:
Pete Roe: Clearly such a talented musician and much loved by all of them. Pete played ‘The Devil’s Dancefloor’ which is always a crowd-pleaser. His sheer talent at folk guitar is so enviable and he was a brilliant start to the night. Pete Roe also plays in Laura Marling’s band and joined her on-stage throughout the night.
Ethan Johns: It was our very first time hearing and seeing the well known record producer and songwriter, Ethan Johns. He played a song called ‘ Hello Sunshine’ which was fantastic. He frequently popped up on stage with Laura Marling too, playing a multitude of different instruments such as guitar, drums and what I think was a dulcimer (but my eyes could have been deceiving me). Johns has worked with artists such as Ryan Adams, Kings of Leon, Ray Lamontagne and Rufus Wainwright! Laura Marling can now be added to that amazing list as he’s just finished producing her much anticipated second album (Due for release in February 2010).
Peggy Sue: It was an unfortunate performance for Peggy Sue as they were experiencing guitar problems which was a terrible shame as ‘The Sea, The Sea’ is such a brilliant song. But! luckily, Laura Marling insisted that they repeated the song as part of the encore for the night which completely made up for it.
Johnny Flynn: Amazing, amazing, AMAZING performance. He played a new song called ‘Will I Pray’. If it is possible to have a performance steal the night in a show of such brilliance, it most definitely would have been this one. Johnny Flynns presence on stage in the absence of a band was simply mesmerising; the acoustics of the RFH amplified the great beauty of his voice,and you could sense around you the atmosphere of an audience captivated by the fantastic music produced by this gentleman.
Alessi: The magnificance of Alessi’s singing will bring a smile to you every time. She’s such a lovely musician and hearing her sweet voice in the beautiful surroundings of the Royal Festival Hall was truely special. Alessi sang her wonderful song ’Hummingbird’ and was joined by Benji from Mumford & Sons.
Sons of Noel and Adrian: Their performance of ‘Indigo’ was completely mind blowing. Seeing over 10 members of a band on stage at one time is always exciting and I very nearly fell out of my seat whilst watching them. Although the other artists were so, so amazing, it was still a nice change to witness such a large band come on stage. Jacob Richardson can seriously play a mean nylon stringed guitar and we were fascinated by the string section. Definitely one of the highlights of the already incredible night.
Andrew Bird: Possibly the most well known of ‘friends’ to join Laura Marling on the night. Andrew Bird was joined by Laura Marling and Marcus Mumford for his performance of ‘Headsoak’. It was a rather endearing performance and quite amusing at times – We’re almost certain that the whole audience was quite taken aback as well as immensely impressed at Andrew Bird’s whistling skills.
Mumford & Sons: The last performance of the night (before the encore). Mumford & Sons performed their song ‘Thistle and Weeds’ and of course they didn’t disappoint (but could they ever?).
…And last but definitely not least, Laura Marling. It seems an age away that Laura Marling was terrified of an audience not even a quarter of the size present at the Royal Festival Hall. Though still slightly awkward at times, her stage presence remained strong throughout and even Laura herself said the night was going surprisingly easy. The whole meaning of the night was to showcase music with friends, but it was also the perfect opportunity to present her new material to her fans. If you thought ’Alas, I Cannot Swim’ was an amazing album, then you’re definitely in for a treat for her upcoming second album. Marling has completely stepped it up a gear – Youthful songs such as ‘Failure’ have been cast aside; ready for a whole different sound altogether and man, are we excited ;)
Filed under: Art, Music | Tags: Bon Iver, Johnny Flynn, Ohbijou, Songs of the Whoeek, Woo
I stumbled across the odd name Ohbijou in the list of showcasing artists at SXSW, but didn’t investigate much more past their tune Black Ice. Mr Jeff Hamada however bought their amazing fantastical video for New Years to my attention, and I’ve been since pitying the fool that is me for not listening to the beauty of this band. I would not stop at treating your ears to New Years- for the moment you fall into Mecijia’s vocals so lush, and hold out for the sound of instrumentation so tentative…you will be hooked.
If you too wondered the meaning behind the band name, an intriguing answer was supplied by Vocalist/Guitarist Casey Mecija.
“The name is from a moment I had with someone…I couldn’t quite describe it’s meaning. The moment was fleeting but was gorgeous.”
There is so much that we love about Mr Flynn. We could not wait to see him again after our first encounter at Cargo, and then yet more so on our second at the RFH. Already eagerly awaiting his new material, songs like the above has me lingering ever dangerously on tenterhooks and steadily (and readily) increasing the playcount of said video…
There’s not much to be added, except ever more praise so I’d simply suggest you click play as I am doing now, and away! Enjoy!
You’ve probably heard of Mr Justin Vernon and Bon Iver. Maybe then you’ve heard that unbelievably handsome voice of his. If you’ve subconsciously nodded twice there, then you’ll know of being enchanted into the beauty of his songs. Heart wrenching and melancholic they may be, but they are also irrisistable, and I can’t help but slip on my headphones for a while at 4am to hear his voice.
Yeahhh! We’re going off to see The Dodos at Birmingham’s Glee Club soon. Been well excited to see what they’re like live since hearing of them through Fecal Face (love up Tripp, and everything Fecal) and appreciating greatly the sheer amount of sound, and wonderful melodious sound at that just two people can create. Undeclared is one my fave mellow ones off Visiter. An exhibition of love for watercolours and rainbow text plus two super nice covers of Undeclared off youtube follow below.
Enjoy yourself :)
(psst, their new album is out now, and first single Fables is well good.)
If there is ever anything that is a guaranteed massive win with me it is a mass of detail. Lines, dots, squares, drawing each of the kernels of corn on a cob, trying to draw every strand of hair, attempting to illustrate the population of china with stick men… There is just something very addictive and attracting knowing that the artist sat before their piece of work for hours on end, working on the small but many components of their imagery. You do have to get past various whispers of you being quite anal though…
I can never stop staring at the hectic,dreamy ecosystems of Gregory Euclide. He’s got this great ability to manipulate materials you never would have thought of using, and annoyingly using the materials we all use with even more skill and imagination,crafting them into his meticulous works.
He’s currently working on some new pieces for a solo show at the DavidBSmith Gallery, and is playing with a kind of dried spilt paint effect which is making my jaw drop. My words won’t do it justice: Below.
Filed under: Art | Tags: Alison Jacques, Art, Exhibition, Photography, Ryan McGinley, Woo
HERE
Check my wee mention of the man himself down below.
A great photo will make you stop, you’ll pause to discover words again, and most magically it will take you away just for that instance, whether it be someplace you desire to be within, or somewhere unknown and strange. It’s like that wonderful stirring inside of you, each time you listen to your favourite line in a song, or hear the voice of a singer able to bring shivers to your spine. It’s a really great tingle.
I’d quite like to get lost in Ryan Mcginley’s world- if only for a while! A world of carefree naked people (maybe I could get lost in it clothed…)faces stare back full of freedom and rebellion, of hidden stories, and ideas yet to be unravelled. There is also something 
quite daunting in the midst too. Maybe merely on a personal level being on the other side of the frame-you will wonder if you might find for yourself all that you spy through these windows, with all the contradictions that reality encompasses.
Mr McGinleys Dakota Hair-2004 (below) was the first of his works that I encountered. A barren, sandy landscape rushes by escaping the photo, and then this solitary nude figure drinking from a styrofoam cup on the back of a truck. It doesn’t seem all that extraordinary, but then the things that take our breath away the most are almost always very ordinary.
“My photographs are a celebration of life, fun and the beautiful…They are a world that doesn’t exist. A fantasy. Freedom is real. There are no rules. The life I wish I was living.”
His work is often said to be “voyeuristic”, but I feel as though it’s more like a great fervour for life, as if he is able to capture for us these small moments we thought we may have glimpsed; snapshots we just missed. He translates feelings, and memories and suspends them in his imagery. The sense of movement and suspension in time works to put this to great effect. Mr McGinley’s photos seem incredibly organic, but there is a certain amount of crafting involved in each scenario (come on, you don’t get beautiful naked people prancing around everywhere now do you), as he says himself, they are a fantasy, a similar but different echo of our own world.
“I got to the point where I couldn’t wait for the pictures to happen anymore…I was wasting time, and so I started making pictures happen. It borders between being set up or really happening. There’s that fine line.”
Since the summer of 2005 Mr McGinley has taken an annual road trip with his troup of assistants and beautiful guys and girls (according to a source, one assistant has the task of a carrying around a boom box to ensure that there is a soundtrack for Mr McGinley’s creativity, which is if I may say so.. UBER awesome). He gets them to interact with each other, getting them distracted with smoke and fireworks, and all matter of things so the models become very natural under the gaze of Mr McGinley’s camera. In this way he ’creates’ his photos, but it’s still not something you could simply replicate by taking a couple of naked people into the desert and taking a few shots. Without the knowledge of how these models will interact, how to capture all those senses being revealed, the photos would just be lifeless and dead which is simply not the case with Mr McGinley, showing the great grasp over the work he creates.
Ryan McGinley is a great big gust of creative fresh air. His fearlessness, spirit, and creative freedom something I aspire and envy. I love this inspiring quote from him…
”I’ve worked really hard. I’ve devoted my life to this. I’m not feeling any expectation from anybody else. I’m doing it for myself. I’m making the art for me first. I’m making it because these are the pictures I want to see. I’m making pictures that don’t yet exist.”
Some indulgent self promotion we created today whilst watching bearded weirdos on Dragons Den.. rocking out some seated head banging with the sounds of Local Natives…listening to the rain outside..and also contemplating the serious matter of: just what would you do if a bird flew in through your window?
Local Natives are the newest addition to our list of favourite bands. It’s not often you hear a band that you instantly love – Right from the start we felt that rush of excitement, that need to find everything they’ve ever released; EP’s, albums, singles…anything. Unfortunately, our search was short-lived as we soon found out they’ve only recently released their debut single ‘Sun Hands’ on Chess Club records literally a few weeks ago. Good news though! By the sounds of it their debut album is set to be released very soon, from what we’ve gathered it’s meant to be released in the Autumn but we’re not too sure about the UK date. Hopefully soon!
Local Natives are a band that embraces their abilities to create the loveliest vocal harmonies and fantastic drum arrangements. All of their vocals compliment each other perfectly and it seems to come so naturally to them – It’s so nice to listen to and even better to see live! Also, having another percussionist as well as a main drummer gives their songs more of an impact and it adds so much more to their live performances. You’ll find that every song of theirs will be stuck in your head for days (which is definitely no bad thing!), you’ll tap your feet, you’ll sing along, and you’ll either keep pressing the repeat button of your iPod or you’ll keep buying tickets for their shows (or most likely, both).
As well as being musically talented, some members have experience in graphic design and they all create the artwork for the band. When they played SXSW this year, they designed a flyer which included a map for all of their gigs. It’s really nice to see a band dedicate so much time and effort into creating their own artwork. They’ve also designed their own single and album covers which both look fantastic. Check out some of their artwork below (and above):
We saw them at The Borderline with support from Kurran and the Wolfnotes and Peggy Sue. By the time Local Natives were due to come on stage the crowd was buzzing. Their whole set was brilliant and full of energy. Stage presence was strong and the band frequently moved around on stage swapping instruments which is always nice to see during a gig. Their passion showed through in their performance and their energy spread through the crowd which made the atmosphere even better. We came out on such a high, eager to know when the band would be touring the UK again whilst happily making plans to buy tickets as soon as we found out. Luckily we won’t have to wait long because the band will be back here on the NME tour in September. Yay!
Filed under: Music | Tags: Alessi's Ark, Monk, Mumford and Sons, The National
As if I haven’t already mentioned Mumford & Sons enough on this blog…Oh well! They deserve lots more. They recently performed at the Itunes festival at the Roundhouse in Camden – I wasn’t able to get tickets but the videos from YouTube look amazing as ever and the EP which is now available for £1.99 (Bargain) is seriously incredible. I’ve heard Timshel, Awake My Soul and Thistle and Weeds before but ‘To Darkness’ was completely new to me. I’m always astounded whenever I hear a new song of theirs, I don’t think they’re capable of writing a bad song.
I love their live recordings, they’re really something special live and It’s something that can’t quite be captured with studio recordings. ‘To Darkness’ is sung with such passion it’s literally heart wrenching. As soon as I heard Marcus Mumford sing that opening line of ‘I will not fall’ I knew the song would be on repeat for a good while (Within 2 hours, It’s play count reached 28!). It gave me shivers – I felt excitement, melancholia and hope all at the same time. It’s amazing how just one song can do so much.
Go listen to them, buy all their EP’s as well as their Itunes Live one, go see them live and you’ll appreciate music even more than you do already.
There aren’t any videos of ‘To Darkness’ but here’s a video of Dust Bowl Dance from their Roundhouse gig.
Alessi has such a sweet voice and she’s always really lovely to listen to. ‘Simple Man’ is a completely stripped down version of a Lynyrd Skynyrd song. It’s got less of the electric guitars and belting solo’s and more of the simplicity that folk music captures perfectly. Alessi sings It In such a beautiful way that makes you want to listen to the lyrics so intently, not only just for this song but also for her whole album which I’ve been listening to a lot lately.
Check out her myspace. Again, there isn’t a video of ‘Simple Man’ but this is my favourite video (and song) of hers, featuring some cool lomo photos!
I love love love The National and I’ve been listening to them so much this week. I love ‘Mistaken For Strangers’ purely because the chorus is so addictively catchy and makes you want to listen to it again and again. ‘Boxer’ is an amazing album and It’s definitely up there in my top 10. I think they’re wonderful songwriters and musicians, particularly the guitarist who comes up with such great riffs in songs such as ‘Baby, We’ll be fine’ – A brilliant song. Who knew the lyrics ‘Baby we’ll be fine, All we’ve gotta do is be brave and be kind’ could have such an impact, for me anyway. ‘Fake Empire’ is my absolute favourite song of theirs though. If you’re crazy enough not to like them, then…you’re crazy.
Filed under: Film, Music | Tags: Bon Iver, Monk, New Moon Soundtrack, Thom Yorke
Okay, more soundtrack news:
Thom Yorke and more importantly, BON IVER have both written songs for ‘New Moon’?! Let’s hope they make the movie that little bit better eh ;) The director is also hoping for a contribution from Kings of Leon but somehow I think that’s pushing it a little.
The soundtrack will be released on October 13th 2009.
We briefly mentioned ‘Paper Heart’ a few weeks ago but just as I thought the film already had everything going for it, I’ve just found out that the amazingly talented Zach Condon and Perrin Cloutier of Beirut have written a song just for it! It’s entitled ‘”The 11th Arrondissement“.
Much of the soundtrack is actually made up of songs by Michael Cera and Charlyne Yi themselves (with various other musicians helping them out) and it’s due to be released on August 4th by Lakeshore Records.
You can hear little snippets of a few songs here, but you’ll have to wait a few days for the Beirut song (and song’s with vocals) unfortunately!
If you didn’t catch it before, watch the trailor below:
AHH! Okay, okay I can hardly contain my excitement… word on the street is that the ever so amazing Mumford and Sons have finished recording their debut album and it’s going to be released on the 5th of OCTOBER! That’s like…soon! :D
I’M SO EXCITED!!!
They’re one of the best bands I’ve had the pleasure of hearing.. and seeing live lots of times! In the meantime, I guess I’ll have to keep on listening to their EP’s everyday and watching vids BUT they’re touring soon so extra yay’s :)
amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing amazing
