08/05/2009 20:00 at Basement Bar @ The Tron, Edinburgh
Hunter Square, Edinburgh,
Cost: £5/3
Another Sporadic Music Night with Paul Gilbody and very special guests Bag of Bags! It’ll be fantastic…
The eighteenth Secret CDs night will be on Wednesday 6th May 2009 from
7.30-10.30 p.m. I hope you can come along to the intimate, friendly
surroundings of Secret CDs home in The Phoenix cellar bar in Edinburgh’s
Broughton Street.
The big news is that top local songwriter and chanteuse *Hannah O’Reilly -*
www.hannahoreilly.com* -* will be using the evening to launch her
long-awaited new CD ‘Stiletto’. Secret CDs is very excited about this, and
we feel very honoured that the mighty Hannah has chosen our humble night for
the occasion.
In the unlikely event that this news is not enough to entice you, the three
other acts on the bill will almost certainly convince you that this is the
place to be:
– *The Beggar Girls* are a 4 piece all female band playing and singing
traditional tunes and songs form Eastern Europe, France, England and some
original material. They live in the Scottish Borders. Website:
www.myspace.com/beggargirls
– *Andi Neate* has released five albums, including her most recent studio
recording, Crows, Rooks and Ravens (2009). Recorded over a year in
Edinburgh and Bath, the production ranges from songs with the full band
treatment (Storm Crow, Too Busy Playing God), with strings, brass and
backing vocals, to pared back emotive solo voice and guitar. Website:
www.andineate.co.uk
– *Little Pebble *is a member of the Fence Collective, and will showcase
his 5 track e.p. ‘Irish Winter’ which comes in a handmade case made from
sugar paper – so you can eat it if you want. Website:
www.littlepebble.co.uk
All four featured acts will play highlights from their respective CDs, which
will be sold on the night. Door entry will be £2.
The Himalaya Shop, 20 South Clerk Street
£3 in, £2 food
“Featuring side projects from the city’s finest names in independent music.”
with Horsebreaker www.myspace.com/thebandhorsebreaker
http://poetryatthegreatgrog.blogspot.com/
featuring: Robert Crawford, Gerry McGrath, Julia Rampen, JL Williams
“Poetry at the Great Grog has moved to the Jekyll & Hyde Pub (the ‘cellar
bar’) at 112 Hanover Street, on the left hand side of the road, between
George Street and Queen Street.
Hear some of the best poetry in the UK in a great atmospheric environment.
Entry cost is by donation (suggestion of £3).”
He’s not been along to OOTB for a few weeks (as far as i know), but he’s posted a link to his new site in the OOTB bulletin board, Dave Robertson, aka Heroin in a Nutshell, has some demos online that you can listen to with your ears. Get to it, and then let him know what you think of them! You’ll thank yourself!
Mutant Lodge
Nyk started off with a set of new material, the only thing you can expect about Nyk’s songs is that you don’t know what to expect. Mr Sleaze was a bright and buzzy satire about a music night host who only opens his mouth in order to change feet. Well that’s my interpretation anyway. “Kitten in a Bong” Nyk insists is just a made up story, but it must be true because I read it in The Metro, “Ancient hippies sit around all day long, listening to Gong”… quite! The set finished with burst of frenetic weirdness with “Calypso”, a surreal moment in anybody’s life.
Peter
Peter’s set featured a harmonium and Mongolian throat singing, I promise that I’m not making this up! I’ve heard throat singing before, on paper it looks like it should be impossible as the singer generates an overtone to their own voice so that they’re singing two notes at once. It sounds a bit like a Step Phaser or some kind of high pass filter. Peter used the Harmonium as a drone note as he sang in a clear tenor voice, liberally incorporating celtic melodies and high Bel canto notes. The first two songs were about Selkies, a Scottish version of the mermaid legend in which some seals have the ability to shed their sealskins and take on the form of a beautiful human. The stories about them usually don’t end well with some poor love struck human falling in love with a Selkie when they’re walking on the land and stealing their sealskin so that they can’t ever return to the Sea. There have been a number of folk songs written about them over the years, and I’m sure Pete’s second song was based on one of them. There are some singers who can make calm descend over a room and silence an audience, Peter certainly has that enviable gift. A beautiful voice… perhaps someone to consider for a featured artist slot, the ruling junta at OOTB can ponder that one. In any case it would be a pleasure to have him back at some point
Brokentooth
So I was up next and at a bit of loss as what to follow Peter with. For the record it was:
Guns in the Desert
Hearts and Spades
Muses Song
I gave a little speech about my strange belief that music literally is Magic. We talk about music quite happily in magical terms, ie “enchanting, bewitching, evocative, spellbinding” etc In the middle ages composers were encouraged to avoid using the devils interval, a flattened fifth, because of the belief that it really did conjure up Ol’ Nick, Beelzebub, the Adversary, The Prince of Lies, Set, Satan, The Lord of this World, Lucifer himself. Not that I believe a word of that b*llocks! Oh by the way the flattened fifth became the backbone of the blues and heavy metal.
Calum Carlyle
Calum opened with “The Acid Test” which sounded slightly reminiscent of Jimmy Page’s guitar work, maybe it was just the 12 string that he was once again using to great effect. Shirat HaYam (Song at the Sea) is based on a song from the Old Testament that Calum took the brave artistic decision to learn phonetically and sing in the original Hebrew. Interestingly the song name checks Elohim, a name for God which can be translated as “Gods and Goddesses”. Well I find it interesting as it seems to suggest to me that the early Jewish people didn’t believe in a monotheistic patriarchy. On a lighter note the vocal line at the beginning, homage to “Paint It Black” at all Mr Carlyle? Calum slipped in a cheeky cover of Storyville a song by Hannah O’Reilly, you’ll hear more about her and the song later.
Ryan
Young Ryan commanded the stage next with a song called Trotsky’s Ghost, apparently about a middle management type wigging out on crystal meth and imagining that he’s being haunted by the spectre of the dead communist; in terms of theme and music it reminded me a bit of Morrissey and The Smiths, or similar intelligent literary rock. The second song was called “Destroyer” about the end of the world as we perceive it; I love it when songwriters don’t do the regular “boy meets girl saga”. Again another cover was brought to stage on this relaxed night with a version of a Joanna Newsom song. It translated very well from the original harp and squeaky voice of the original, which Ryan let me have a swift listen to when we were outside for a fag during the break. Hope to see you back down the Tron again soon, Ryan.
Nicky Carder and Calum Carlyle
This was the first time I’d seen Nicky and Calum play a set together properly. Nicky’s songs have always sounded to me like they’ve been written with a full band in mind, so it was noteworthy to hear the first stage her sound being fleshed out with more musicians. The interplay between the two guitars was a respectful dance with Calum proving to be an effective foil. Nicky seems to skirt close to a lot of potential pitfalls without actually falling in any of them. She’s got gift for strong melodies and the songs are instantly accessible, but the lyrics are intelligent and quirky enough to avoid becoming lightweight pop rock. Nicky’s got an impressive amount of raw talent (she rides a mean unicycle too; I promise I’m not making this up). It’s going to be interesting to see how her style gets further refined as she’s come an awful long way during her journeyman period with us. A little bit more diversity, with some light and shade, and exploring some different keys could perhaps broaden her appeal. Right now though it’ll be intriguing to find out how the band sound once the ground work has been fully realised.
Hannah O’Reilly
With her opening song I think Hannah pulled a first for Out of the Bedroom by playing a song that had previously been played by another act that night. “Storyville” is about EJ Bellocq a photographer from the early 1900’s based around New Orleans. After his death a portfolio of 89 relaxed and realistic sepia images of whores from the Storyville area of New Orleans, (the city’s notorious legal Red Light District and the legendary birthplace of jazz) were discovered on the original glass plates. With the song Hannah performs a trick similar to the photographs themselves, which aren’t really standard erotica, in creating something slightly melancholy and beautiful from something potentially sordid. The chorus references the unfound series of prints that Bellocq was supposed to have taken later in the opium dens of New Orleans Chinatown. “And then the opium flowed as far as we know, time stood still in 1915.” Apparently Hannah doesn’t really think of herself as a piano player, which is a little unfair as the arrangements are handsome yet understated, and slightly unconventional. Her last song, a new one for which she was still on the book, featured a weird quirk of not having the tonic chord from the key she was playing in. Eg playing in the key of G, but without a G major cropping up. HA! Told you that I’d explain the theory behind that Hannah!
Gordon
Gordon 14 April 2009
Gordon, who I think was a first time performer at the Tron, gave us a harmonically rich piece with sparse lyrics and an indie rock mumble, the guitar carrying most of the piece which segued neatly into his second song in a similar vein . I was talking to Gordon about Bob Dylan before his set; it was only his last piece, a more conventional singer-songwriter acoustic number that has anything of the Zimmerman about it. It would be good to see Gordon back again at some point, as the material certainly had potential and I’d be interested in hearing what else he can bring down to the basement bar in the Tron.
Alex
Alex and Matt split the last three songs between them, Alex was up first and sang in a rich baritone with a very slight country tinge to it. He struck me as a man who is all about the song in a very meat and potatoes, back to basics kind of a way. That’s not a criticism, just because you’ve got a simple set of bricks doesn’t mean that you can’t build something interesting out of them, in fact second song, and my favourite, wouldn’t have sounded out of place being played by the Band or some other .60s/70s luminary.
Matt
Squeezing in one song at the end, Matt in flannel shirt and baseball cap gave us the first airing of a new song, a summery yet heartfelt number which rounded off the night nicely.
Review: Jim Thomson
Compere: James Whyte
Sound: David O’Hara
Review 31/03/09
Tonight was no ordinary OOTB- as the banner across the stage proudly proclaimed to all and sundry, tonight’s OOTB was all in aid of Oxjam; this could mean only one thing: bring on the covers!
Rosie Bell – Rosie’s first is a wistful piano ballad, singing of “making a world of music”- Rosie’s lyrics are full of acute observations, and really engaging. Her second is a hilarious cover of “hallelujah”, castigating the plethora of performers who constantly murder what at heart is a great song: Rosie sings about “the critic scribbling ‘this song wrecked my night’”- quite the contrary in this case; Rosie sets the tempo for a cracking night.
Cameron and Scott (and the shaky thing from Ghana) – This duo begin with a cover of a song by Angus and Julia Stone (no, I haven’t either). It’s a real foot-tapper- the shaky thing from Ghana is certainly a sound investment. Really enjoyed the backing vocals at the finale; fine performance. Anyone could have been forgiven for expecting some sort of ZZ Top tribute on the second song given the matching black guitars; instead we get a cover of PJ Harvey (I personally breathed a sigh of relief)- another strong rendition, some tight harmonies, and neat guitar interplay on show- the duo brought a rawness to the song in its stripped down arrangement which may be lacking in the original. Good stuff!
Nicky – Nicky begins with a cover of a song by ‘Soil’ who are a really heavy rock outfit apparently. This is what a covers night is all about; Nicky really makes the song her own; it’s a different style to her original material, but the heavy rock chords provide ample background for her trademark powerhouse vocal. I can really imagine not liking this song in its original incarnation, however I thoroughly enjoyed Nicky’s rendition; perhaps not as much as our compere this evening, but I did so all the same.
Her second is just a brilliant concept: Bonnie Tyler sung as hard acoustic rock- I certainly wouldn’t have recognised this one, and with a bit of polish, this could be a cracking cover when Nicky performs it at the unsigned competition she’s in; best of luck with it Nicky! Now all together…. “I NEED A HERO!!!!”
Broken Tooth – Jim starts with a song that confirms a fear which we all subconsciously harbour…yes, ducks would given half the chance “mock your hair style, and sleep with your wife”. Definitely one very few will have heard before on tonight’s bill…ha ha. Never mind… his second is an acapella rant about “What keeps mankind alive”- this is almost a piece of acting; Jim really portrays the anger, with fine enunciation and lots of vehemently rolled ‘r’s. We saw a really different side to Broken Tooth tonight and a really entertaining one at that.
Out of the Oxjam – For the first minute or so I don’t think anyone in the band let alone the audience knew exactly what was happening- but the OOTO band gave us a fantastic country jam version of “Don’t Look Back in Anger”- it was a venerable Band Aid of OOTB stalwarts, with Broken Tooth and Cameron joining the whole jamboree on stage. The performance was infectiously jaunty- solos and dischords were added at each performer’s discretion, though kept on track towards the end by Peter, who sang the song powerfully- I particularly enjoyed the line “Please don’t put your life in the hands/ of a country western band”. A raucous romp through a britpop classic. Brilliant.
Hannah – Dusty Springfield on a ukulele; what’s not to like? I thought the arrangement on this was a really original idea; the sparse backing of the uke focused attention on vocal, whose purity and pitch gave the lyrics a real sweetness. There was even room for a whistle solo; again, what’s not to like?
Sam – I must profess something of an interest at this point because Sam begins with a cover of one of my absolute favourite artists, Ryan Adams. This was an unbelievably accurate rendition. If you closed your eyes, it pretty much could have been the man himself; Hannah’s backing vocals added a layer of authenticity to this Americana acoustic ballad “Strawberry Wine”. On his second, Sam shows great versatility in the vocal singing a Kings of Leon song (can’t remember the title), proving he can do rock as well as ballads. Another original cover, and another cracking set from two of the most exciting new acts at OOTB at the moment.
Calum Carlyle – Calum really enters into the spirit of the evening playing covers of OOTBers. He starts with crowd favourite “Gimp Boy” (originally by Nyk Stoddart)- Calum’s snarling vocal gives the song a nasty edge which was well suited to the song; as usual the audience joins in with the triumphant chorus. Next, we hear a cover of Nicky Carder- really interesting to hear this; although the arrangement was pretty similar, Calum gave a very different rendition in the vocal, less angry than Nicky’s perhaps, but it gave the song a different perspective. Calum didn’t seem too happy about his performance, but I thought it was a fine tribute to both performers.
James Bligh – I’ve not seen James play before, but I was very impressed by his skilled finger picking. Very Jose Gonzalez-esque. I particularly enjoyed his second which had a wonderfully ethereal ending. The vocal could do with a bit more confidence, as it was a bit quiet in places, but there’s no doubt the talent is there. Strong set from James, I hope to see him return soon.
I then took to the stage to play a cover of Rob Sproul Cran’s “Japan”, and “Build me up Buttercup” (not written by Rob Sproul Cran). This is what our irreverent host Mr. Calum Haddow had to say about the whole endeavour:
“Jonny Smells of win.”
One for the myspace methinks. Thanks for the fine praise Calum.
Scott – Really good to hear another poet at ootb, however this performance seemed a little rushed, perhaps because of the 10 minute slot. The material was difficult to engage with because there were scant breaks between each piece. Scott is undoubtedly a skilled poet and I would be interested to read his stuff – his material is peppered with acute observations, and there is a breadth of content on show. Next time though it would be great to hear a more ‘in depth’ set with fewer poems, which would allow the audience to really engage with the material. Hopefully we will get the opportunity to at some point.
Nyk – “Mr Sleaze” is a scathing character piece from Nyk – perhaps influenced by Calum’s snarling vocal on his cover? Interesting to see Nyk doing this different sort of material. Next though we are treated to classic Stoddart, with unfettered acoustic psychadelica. Class.
Anthony (debut) – Anthony may have been a wee bit nervous before coming on, but he delivered a confident performance. “Policeman” is a great idea for a song, with some fantastic lyrics; Anthony really paints a picture in the words, which are convincingly delivered. Unfortunately I didn’t catch the name of his second, but it begins with furious strumming, and sings of more conventional songwriter fare (broken hearts et al.); nothing wrong with that though! Anthony clearly has an ear for a catchy melody, and hopefully we shall hear some more tunes from him soon. Promising stuff.
Gerry - 21 April 2009
Gerry – Gerry’s first showcases his impressive voice, with some excellent sustained notes, over intricate hammer-ons and pull-offs on the guitar. “I’ll take my chances and run” he sings. His second “Dogs coming in” is a rockier number, with a really memorable chorus. Again the performance is committed, with another strong vocal performance. A really enjoyable set, from a clearly talented performer.
Cameron – Next up, Cameron treats us to some heart-rendering original material- he sings of dying “by your side”, silencing the audience with a desperate tale of loss. His second is a confessional piece, which lends the performance an air of authenticity, as he sings about “the trouble with the straight and narrow”. A really engaging couple of songs!
A tense bidding war ensued for the final two songs of the night (which saw £12 go to Oxjam); then clouds descended, the horseman of the apocalypse appeared, a woman fainted…Calum Haddow had taken to the stage. He performed a swing version of “New Born” by Muse. I don’t really know what else I can say. You had to be there.
Cameron (returns)! – the joint victor of the bidding war supplemented his earlier set with a fine cover of “Disco 2000” by Pulp. I had never heard this done acoustic before, but it worked really well, and had the audience gleefully singing along. A fine way to end an absolutely cracking night at OOTB!
review by Jonny Pugh
OOTB 335 – 24th March 2009
It’s another mammoth pot-pourri of excellent music tonight at OOTB, so without further ado, here’s what i wrote about it, hurriedly, and on borrowed paper…
Furious (Willie) – Furious starts us off with a ninetiestastic slice of what was once enthusiastically called Britpop. It’s quite nice that Britpop’s lasting legacy is the singer-songwriter ethic. Furious exemplifies this well. His second song recalls the nineties as well (for me anyway), and it’s another slow one. His third picks the pace up a bit though, it’s called Curiosity which, given his stage name, would look great on the cover of a single. It’s quite complex and entertaining. This is my favourite of the three for sure.
http://www.myspace.com/furiousthesoloartist
Alex & Donald (Seven Deadly Sins) – They start with Miss Parker, a bittersweet country pop song, a bit like a strawberry milkshake on a hot day. The bridge has a bit of harmonica which is nice. Good harmonies too. They carry on with Silver on Gold, more twin guitar countryness, there’s some lovely lead guitar on this song. They quickly plug their band (Seven Deadly Sins) and finish with a song which is a bit groovier, sort of a timechanging rock folk acoustic vibe. Colin mentions to me that the chap on the right has “good hands”, surely a compliment!
http://www.myspace.com/thesevendeadlysinsofficial
Nicky Carder – This is the first public performance of Nicky’s newest song, I’ll Find You Unexpectedly, about a chance meeting between three musicians in Glasgow Central station, an upbeat pop number with foot tapping rock overtones. Nicky’s busy guitar playing is a great backing for her soaring voice. Secondly she plays Little Purples, it’s a quieter, contemplative number made all the more poignant when you realise it’s about her shoes! Finally, one of my favourites, Between The Floorboards. This is the song Nicky played when she successfully qualified for the regional finals of “Vodafone Live & Unsigned” (which will be held in Newcastle on 2nd May). Always a pleasure!
http://www.myspace.com/nickycardermusic
Broken Tooth – I personally think it’s fine to use some of your fifteen minutes to state your opinions, but Broken’s comments about the arms trade seem to be a bit lost on the audience. Still, he keeps it short and appropriately plays his new song Guns In The Desert. The guitar part in this is particularly nice. Mister Tooth does a great job of making a six string guitar sound like a twelve string here. He tells us a quick story about the Hellfire Club and launches into Hoodoo Man, one of my favourites off his CD actually. I like the atmosphere f this song and it’s been a while since i’ve heard it. Again, lovely guitar. Finally, a new one, Muse’s Song, about songwriting. He did this recently at the Blazer, more confidently in my opinion, i feel like Toothy sometimes comes across better in a lower tech setting, though to be honest the highly lamentable lack of a monitor speaker at OOTB may well be the low tech setting that’s putting him off his game slightly in this song. If so, he’s coping valiantly.
http://www.myspace.com/electricwhiteboy
The Angel Conversations – Nice to see these guys again, still playing as a duo rather than as a larger band as they used to do. It doesn’t stop them playing some powerful ballads though. They introduce their second as one they’ve “not quite written yet”, but to me it sounds like a good one with plenty of highs and lows, with a good combination of quiet verse and noisy chorus. They finish with Rain and Shine which is very well sung and very well played, and it swells up beautifully for the middle 8. I think my favourite of the set was the new one though, which is always a good sign.
http://www.myspace.com/theangelconversations
Townhouse – Playing as a three piece band, a configuration i haven’t seen them in before, Townhouse sound professional from their first note. Lisa Paton has a really powerful voice and it’s backed well by the band. Interesting songs too with plenty of hard hitting lyrics. Key changes and unexpected harmonies crop up frequently too, but always in the context of the song, like a well folded cake mixture. Very smooth and very tight, but still very real.
I’ve heard Stuart and Lisa separately before, and playing as a duo, but with the full three-piece band they take it to another level, it really works. They’re really good at singing harmonies with each other. By the third song, Lisa’s got her mandolin out. It’s excellent to hear mandolin driven songs at OOTB, there should be more of it. Keep it up Lisa! The third song also features a whistled hook line from Stuart which genuinely sounds as good as a flute.
Townhouse were only going to play five songs but luckily they relent and play Stuart’s excellent song about childhood social conditioning. It’s great, one of my favourites of his actually. You should hear it. They finish with a stormer of course and leave us wanting more…
http://www.myspace.com/townhousesound
Lorraine McCauley and Peter Michael Rowan – Lorraine and Peter are two thirds of a soon-to-be-unleashed band, the third party of which is Rob Sproul-Cran, should be interesting. Anyway, Peter plays a different instrument for each of the three songs, mandolin (yeah!), fiddle and guitar. Lorraine has a lovely voice made of chocolate and camembert, and Peter’s accompaniment is very complimentary to it. He knows how to add to the music without obstructing the song. I’ll certainly look forward to hearing the full ensemble. Their first Edinburgh gig as a three piece will be at the Blue Blazer on Sunday 17th May (get there for 8pm, free admission).
http://www.myspace.com/lorrainemccauley
Colin Milne – Playing his much talked about glute he tells us “all these songs are sort of true, with exaggerations, you know”. Colin’s unique. He gives us three surprising songs as usual(!). Colin’s got a unique songwriting style, a unique outlook on life and a unique demeanour in general. Not only that but his lyrics are enough to make anyone blush! He’s a true performer, and i don’t think he plays his songs many other places than Out of the Bedroom, we’re lucky to have him!
Calum Carlyle – I played a song next and when i got back to my seat, the following review had magically appeared on the page! Written by Mr Pugh possibly, here’s what it says: Whispers in the Wind – an intelligently picked chord progression around G effortlessly accompanies Calum’s gravelly vocal. Not his usual vocal style but I think it’s a really effective change for this song. Laid back, but upbeat song, really catchy chorus, again with some great bassline runs.
http://www.myspace.com/calumcarlyle
Ryan – Ryan seems a bit nervous, but he performs admirably regardless. He says his first, Soldier is “the oldest song I’ve written that I don’t hate”. He manages to rock out though, despite technical issues. His songs are slightly uneasy, slightly apprehensive, but there’s a certain unashamed amount of rock in there somewhere. His final song is a murder ballad, one of my favourite subgenres at the moment. This one’s about euthanising your loved one after she’s been shot, not played for laughs at all, which is good. He assures us he’s never done this in real life, which is a relief to me at any rate.
Sam – Sam’s great. He’s a powerful performer with a strong voice and lovely expansive guitar playing. Beautiful fingerstyle guitar parts and really catchy vocals, he’s a joy to listen to actually. It turns out i have heard Sam before at an event in Orkney, here’s the review: http://www.orkneyfolkfestival.com/23.pdf Many people had left by the time Sam came on which was a shame because i thought he was one of the best solo performers this evening. He’s a bit like if David Gray was incredibly good and could also play guitar like Bert Jansch.
http://www.myspace.com/twoscompany
Ivor – One instrumental from Ivor, another interesting fingerstyle guitarist. It’s lovely and it involves quite a lot of interesting harmonics and hammer-ons. Quite an organic piece, it’s the sort of thing that could easily go on a CD as the first track even though it’s an instrumental. Nice work, Ivor, worth staying up past bedtime for!
Jonny Pugh Compered and Jim Whyte did the sound (i think) and Calum Carlyle (who?) did the review.
For your information, here’s a note received from someone other than the Edinburgh Free Fringe that some of you may be interested in. OOTB doesn’t take responsibility for the accuracy of this message.
If anyone is interested in playing in the Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival and/or slots on the Pear Tree garden stage in August check out www.freefestival.co.uk and email alex@laughinghorse.co.uk
If you fancy performing in the Free Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year and/or on the Pear Tree garden stage in August, drop the organiser Alex Petty a line: alex@laughinghorse.co.uk It’s great fun, you do not have to pay extortionate fees to hire a venue at festival time and your only real outlay is £20 for single shows or £40 for multiple shows in the Free Festival programme and website.
PS: Apologies but I made a mistake with the cost of advertising in the Edinburgh Fringe programme … not sure where I got the £70 figure from but it’s a quite a bit more than that, especially now that the 27th March early bird discount deadline has passed. So this bit of the message is incorrect:
If you are really keen you can also pay £70 for a one off entry in the Fringe Festival programme which could boost your audience numbers and pay for flyers with which you can merrily annoy locals and tourists alike, but Alex can tell you more about all of that.
OOTB 17/03/2009
An outstanding night, filled with so many new performers of great quality. We old-timers are wondering if the new vanguard has arrived.
Martin
Martin sports tea cosy hat like Cat Douglas, all around me are worried about what his teapot is wearing.
His first is called Gravity and is about measuring things.
He loses the knitwear for his second, which the very erudite Nyk Stoddart informs me is based on Cannery Row, the classic Steinbeck novel set in 30s depression America – the book is apparently great, the song is well – not so great.
Death by design is about being killed by your own inventions, I wonder if songs can be fatal.
Calum Carlyle
The webdude extraordinaire steps up to the mike. I might as well be positive because Calum is the one who posts out these reviews.
First up is a new song which is very high in his range – If I were you, I would put this later in a set, to give your voice a chance to warm up before hitting the ionosphere.
His second is rather funky, think about Stevie Wonder and you won’t be far wrong. Jim Thomson is enthroned upon a green settee, enhaloed by a spotlight, his flowing locks shaking to the groove.
There is a really cool imaginary bass player doodling along to Calum’s third. Calum manfully attempts to play rhythm, lead and bass lines all at once. I rather liked it.
Ross Neilson
Another tea-cosied performer – perhaps I am just behind the times. Tonight he gives us his new more folky material.
Camouflage Myths is out of Ross’ normal territory – it has a singalong chorus.
His second he performs differently tonight, more gently than I’ve heard it before – and it suits it.
Calum says it’s British Amerifolk, I think its rather like Jim Ponter with its insistent repetition of chords – no bad thing, although I’m informed that someone else complained about this, so I can’t be far wrong about the comparison.
Cameron
Cameron tells us about being accosted in the street and told to work hard at uni and not be a butcher – which he has made into his first song. It laid back and he has a nice voice. He follows this up with a Christmas song – in March? His last is somewhere between Jack Johnson and Damien Rice and cool changing time signature with a repeating pattern of 3 3 3 4. I’m wondering if he’s had some vocal training because he has a middle voice – never heard one before at OOTB. Good job.
Mayhew
Mayhew are normally a 5-piece, but tonight are a 3-piece with two guitars and a cello. My instant reaction is that it is lovely – these guys are clearly the pros in the room. The cellist is the finest I’ve seen on the acoustic scene – lovely tone and sympathetic playing. The singer has a fine clear voice – they announce a gig in the Jazz bar on the 1st April – I’m hoping that is not a joke, and would strongly encourage you all to go along.
Mark Roper
Mark just has a squashee tonight, and has ditched the laptop for the evening and brought along a guitar. I think he is considerably more confident with this approach and connects significantly better with the audience.
Broken Tooth
BT has become an evangelical atheist and give us a wee sermon with touches of Hitches and Dawkins – can’t say the audience responded too enthusiastically, but I thoroughly agreed with the sentiments. He launches into ‘Sing at my Funeral’ with some fervour – probably the best I’ve heard him.
Greg Taylor (debut)
I’m not sure if Greg is American, but he looks like he just walked off a 1950’s TV programme – clean cut and big grin. The songs all have multiple sections in different rhythms and tempos. The powerpop bits are quite catchy, but his voice is rather pitchy in the more lyrical sections. If marks were given for confidence he’d win hands down.
Henryk
Henryk is the singer from Chateaux Greyskull – which is a genius name, so I’ll not hear a bad word said about him. Strawberries and Cream has a jazzy backing, but harsh as sandpaper vocals. I rather liked the guitar. Fugue in G was his somewhat mysteriously titled second song – it was in G, but had no sign of a fugue, actually fairly straightforward blues. His third was a new song – and everyone agreed that it was almost Lou Reed. A good and varied set, I wonder what the band is like.
Sam (debut)
Sam and his girlfriend Hannah have just moved up to Edinburgh to be with Adam, and all three are making debuts tonight. His first is about getting your heart broken – it has touches of Noel Coward, but the falsetto passages are almost Matt Bellamy – this is a powerful and thick falsetto. His second lies somewhere between George Harrison and the Weepies. His third completes three tunings in three songs – always a nifty trick (I wasn’t paying enough attention, but from memory I think the first was standard, the second something open, and the third drop-d).
His music is all heavily jazz tinged, and it is great to hear such a variety of chords and clear understanding of harmony. I’d be hard pressed to think of another acoustic player of his calibre in Edinburgh. Hannah sings backing vocals – strong, good harmonies, great voice.
Adam (debut)
Adam (friend of Sam) has a similar jazz background. He is no slouch on the guitar himself, albeit in a rather different style. He has a nice voice with just a hint of smokiness. He plays ‘1984’ and ‘Coming Down Slow’, two fine songs. I have to say the debuts are the finest slots of the night tonight.
Hannah (debut)
Hannah plays ukulele in an uncomplicated but rather charming manner. She apologised for her skill, but I was rather taken by it. Whilst she can sing the jazz with Sam, her own material is slightly more country. She would sit quite happily on a bill between Lisa Paton and Emily Scott – in fact, I think I’ll recommend it.
Freelodin’ Frank
Frank gives us his Gaza protest song, I’m in Love with Scully from the X-files and I Wish Someone Would Kill Rupert Murdoch. Tonight the somewhat younger crowd seemed less interested than usual, but I’m a sucker for the funny ones.
Douglas
Says he has a bad cough and indeed the voice is struggling tonight, he’s a bit croaky, so I guess we’ll excuse him that. Lets hope he’s back soon in fine voice.
Reviewer: Daniel Davis
Compere: Jonny Pugh
Sound: Dave O’Hara
