Out of the Bedroom 329 29th January 2009 – This turned out, though we didn’t know it at the time, to be the final OOTB at the Canon’s Gait. It was cold but it was great fun. A full list of very good performers tonight, here’s a look at my review of the proceedings:

1. Gerry – Gerry starts the evening off with some nice floaty music, his songs have a lovely warm feel, with his full sounding chords and rich voice. His second song’s the bounciest in my opinion, he says it’s about “one of those times you go and pull someone in the office you’re not meant to”, fair enough! He cheerfully carries on through several minor technical hitches, good job!

2. Angel Conversations – I saw their Secret CDs appearance last year, and it was interesting to see them as a duo tonight, both rugged up warmly against the cold, they take the stage and play some emotional folk ballads for us. Nice foot tapping stuff, their final songs has a little lean towards Portishead territory which i quite enjoyed.

3. Duncan Drever – He’s been along to OOTB a few times now, and he’s always entertaining. He tells us his first song “doesn’t have a name… doesn’t have a name yet… it’s good though!” Duncan has a very distinctive singing voice and good solid songwriting. His first song was a lovely creamy pop song which (name or not) was clearly entitled “Cynical Like Me”. His second song (also unnamed!, but clearly (to me anyway) titled “The Ice Fields of Newfoundland”) is a jaunty folk song about life on the sea. Nice rich chords. It’s the first of several sea-related songs tonight. His third is similarly folky, i’m quite impressed by the success with which Duncan has included traditional folk styles into his music in an original and modern way.

4. Dave – Dave’s all the way from sunny Dundee, and i for one appreciate him making the journey! His music is really rock music, the sort of thinking rock music we were hearing in the 1990s. He sits cross legged on the stage and plays us a heavy song that’s more like MTV unplugged than acoustic folk. Great to hear rock-based songs at OOTB. his second, “Questions” has what Dave says is “a pointless intro”, anoher fast acoustic rock number. He’s a man with a message, politics, TV, God, he doesn’t shy from weighty issues. His second song has an enormous power chorus in the middle that develops into some metal style rapping! His third is a scathing criticism of certain aspects of the music industry, i’d like to hear Dave with a band, though he does well without one!

5. James (squashee) – James plays us an incredibly smooth song, entirely in what i think may be Spanish! Pretty captivating, anyway. Calum Haddow comments afterwards: “i’m not sure but i think that’s what sex sounds like”…

Which brings us to the intermission, it must have been dangerously overcrowded because OOTB took the extreme step of playing Frank Sinatra songs at high volume during the intermission, a decision that can only have been made in order to try and thin the audience down a bit, but it didn’t seem to work because virtually everybody came back for round two, which began promptly with…..

6. Mayhew – a four piece band. Two guitars, a cello and a female vocalist, their sound is beautiful as you’d imagine. their singer has a lovely rich voice. The band makes very good use of dynamics through their songs, the texture of their music is a bit like cycling through a hilly landscape on a slightly breezy summer’s day. Their second has more of a groove to it, and the singing gravitates a little in the direction of Morcheeba, on a good day! They come across very professionally. Their third would maybe be described as complex folk, perhaps. These guys remind me a touch of Eagleowl, which is certainly no bad thing.

7. Rossco Galloway and the Chans – our featured act of the evening. I haven’t seen ossco Galloway for some time, i don’t think, except for last week when he was doing an admirable job of playing percussion for Tica Douglas. Anyway, tonight he and one other play us some songs accompanied by guitar and organ. He tells us we’re hearing “one half of the Chans”.

Rossco has a rich and very listenable baritone voice, and his first song, “Fishwives’ Tale” is quite a mysterious song, creating a powerful effect, a little like a Scottish David Bridie. His second, he says, “is a song about humans rather than sea life”. It’s another engaging and interesting song, Rossco carries on through his set giving us more songs which make you want to listen, accentuated by his slightly exotic highlands/islands accent. His fourth, a song about geese(!), has a slightly funky, chromatic feel. Very good use of the word “cacophonic” in a song also. There’s something about these guys that reminds me of water, they have quite a liquid sound. In my opinion, the most beautiful song of the set was their fifth, a lovely ode to the island of Iona. It was genuine and sincere in a way that many sentimental songs don’t manage. Nice.

8. Ross Neilson – Ross Neilson takes the stage with his distinctive 40-a-day country blues voice and plays two songs from his new CD and one from the CD before. There’s a certain hardness about Ross’ sound, though his songs can be quite emotional as well, it really is a form of country music, with just a touch of Hank Williams in it. One thing about Ross’ music though is that it is really Scottish, or at least British, country music, which certainly gives it a different direction. Ross is at Secret CDs this week, and by the sound of it will be selling his CDs for a very affordable price…

9. Stuart (squashee) – Another watery number called “Taste of the Sea”, it’s a lovely relaxed groovy blues song which was up to the high standard already set tonight by everybody else!

10. The Victorians – Offbeat. Very engaging. The singer begins by shaking hands with about two thirds of the audience while the guitarist plays a long introduction to their first number, which includes a quick explanation to the audience that their set is the musical equivalent of a naff attempt to get into our pants. The style is Noel Coward type crooning, replete with dodgy poses with the microphone stand. One other feature of this performance was the singer ranging across the room individually serenading many of the yound ladies in the audience,as well as a slightly nonplussed Calum Haddow. The second song includes a striptease… This is true through-and-through performance, in the vein of the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band. “Sweet Tennents Trousers, I Proclaimed”, we are told, and for the third song, we’re encouraged to boo, jeer and shout hatred instead of applauding! These guys are inspired vicionary madmen, good work!

11. Bobby – I really like Bobby’s songs. This’ll be the second time i’ve seen him though i think he’s been along more times than that. Before he comes on, Bobby wins a “sexy santa outfit in tonight’s raffle, well it’s all part of life’s rich tapestry! He begins with a song called “Aff Duty Annie” which he sings with his distinctive Scots brogue. It’s a clever little folk song about a specific kind of unrequited lust. “Five strings on my banjo”, his second, another good solid foot tapping Scottish folk song, kind of a bit like Billy Connolly, in ethos if not in actual sound. He finishes with his stand out track “Things to Do When Nothin’s on the Telly”, which he apologises for! No need! it’s great!

12. Calum Carlyle – I slope up to the stage and play three old songs, Double Decker Bus (To Heaven), Living Proof, and The Sound of Falling In Love at First Sight. Nobody threw rotten fruit, which i always consider a good thing. Then we all packed up the gear, wrapped our scarves around ourselves and each other, and stumbled out into the perpetual frozen tundra of the Canongate, and from thence, onwards ever onwards to the pub, or possibly to bed.

Compere: Calum Haddow
Sound: Rob Sproul-Cran
Review: Calum Carlyle

Out Of The Bedroom Review 22/01/09

Al Young.

Al Young opens the night with a very rhythmic guitar riff, he entwines interesting vocal melodies and some unusual chord progressions, creating an edgy sound which captures everyone’s attention. His three song slot is one of the best I’ve heard from him, definitely a good way to start the evening.

Eddie

Eddie really caught my attention tonight with his enchanting combination of acoustic rock and beautiful Scottish melodies. His story-like feel and great use of the fret board definitely made an impression on me. I hope to hear him again soon.

Douglas (debut)

Douglas’s toe tapping rhythm kick started his slot. I was particularly impressed by the way he used simple chords to such great effect. This catchy sound with well sung, upbeat rock melodies hit a nice contrast with the second song, which was softer and included some really nice imagery – “tapping on the windows”. He maintains his rocky style but now with a hint of soul. I hope to hear Douglas again after his very impressive debut.

Andrew (debut)

Andrew is another out of the bedroom debut. He shifts the genre slightly with his rhythmic slot, which encourages a lot of swaying in the audience. He used some nice lyrics. “I wove in the fabric” and created a nice folky, country, bold but yet relaxed feel. He seemed very confident and his performance was definitely one to remember due to his individual style, which I felt, captured an Elvis-like sound and brought it into the 21^st century.

CBQ

CBQ changed the sound again with his melancholic but sweet voice. “ I glanced at my watch, it was time”, his gentle voice flowed through the audience as everyone contently followed his story. He used a good bit of repetition then crept up the fret board creating an ambient sound, which I particularly liked. It would be great to hear from him again, maybe, even with some harmonies.

Cameron

Cameron’s mellow acoustic sound and very nice combination of individual chord progressions really stuck with me tonight. He had some nice leaps in the melody, which made them very appealing. I liked his style, rock with a hint of jazz, but yet somehow it sounded like there was a bit of Muse in there too. Voices on the rooftops definitely did not seem out of sequence. A few very nice songs indeed.

Nelson

I’m loving you Nelson. “You were taking me to your secret place”. His bouncy rhythms and lovely catchy melodies really made me smile this evening. His use of word painting with a slight nursery rhyme feel was a nice contrast to the first song which was dark and mysterious, but yet left everyone engaged, as his spoken words crept through everyone’s minds and brought them all into dreams of their own. If only more conversations had such an interesting French undertone and wonderful clichés.

Indescribable. Looking forward to hearing him again.

Bobby

Bobby must have been the most entertaining performer of the evening. His brilliant use of humour and local dialect captivated everyone in the room. “buyin stolen goods in portabelly” “sleepin wi your brothers wife” and “spraying slagans on the walls” were only a few of some of very funny lyrics this comedy songwriter has to offer. His well-played guitar, confident vocals and good use of pauses really help build the atmosphere and made this a very good performance indeed. He left us “pishing in the snow”.

Lindsay

I always seem to lose myself in Lindsay’s words. Enchanting vocals are flowing gently with some nicely picked guitar riffs, followed by some well delivered strumming. She creates a very mystical atmosphere with bouncy bass lines, chromatic ostinatos and extremely unusual chords, but yet her songs are easy to listen to. She makes time stand still. Awesome pinky action. One of my all time favourite songwriters. Though to be honest, she must have some issues with bananas, she talks about them a little too much. Ah well, at least she is veggie and makes a good cup of tea. That’s all that’s important I guess, never mind. Her CD has some good songs and very cool artwork, everyone needs to purchase it, even if they don’t like the tea.

Nicky (written by some random)

I ate bananas while Nicky was playing. “she has one of the most powerful voices on the scene” says Mr Pugh. He’s right! “Rain” was a bit rubbish, especially at the start but the rest weren’t too bad so its fine. I liked the intro for Rain though and I got to hear it twice. Nicky bellows it out with a voice of defying her years, accompanied by trade-mark “made up” chords leaping about crazily, but somehow it all meshes in a beautiful angst-ridden musical journey through, er, the rain.

“between the floorboards” starts quiet then explodes in volume. “nothing seems real when we tie ourselves down” well except bananas. I like this song, I’ll be singing it for weeks. The last song is that one I love with the jaggy chords and the “wooah” bits.

By the way, I only had half a banana, sliced up for breakfast with my muesli.

Jerry (debut)

Jerry keeps a good beat the whole time, he seems relaxed but yet he grasps every word and delivers a very strong sound. “holes in his shoes” , maybe there are, but there definitely aren’t holes in his music. He used some really nice crescendos at the end of the phrases which really show off his tone and how beautiful his voice is. He is another one of tonight’s performers who uses unusual chords to good effect, which I find particularly appealing. A promising Debut to Out of the Bedroom. I’m sure I’m not the only one who will eagerly await his return.

Cameron

“Snow falls down, light descends” Cameron has a really lovely sound and some particularly nice lyrics. “All I think of is you and curious things you do” He has some good contrasts in guitar with a bit of strumming and a little bit of finger picking. His voice carries the song well, this combined with his guitar, keeps everyone interested. His easy listening style is enhanced by his long beautiful signature melodies. I’d love to hear more of this talented musician.

John Fink

John uses a mixture of different chords, which jump around to create a very catchy rhythm. His punchy and rocky style contains busy melodies, which are combined with some nice long powerful notes with lots of charisma. Everyone is left glued to him while he turns out sequence after sequence of very catchy melodies, reminding me bands like INME. He has a very nice individual leap in his melodies, that make his songs very distinctive. I also remember being thoroughly impressed by this songwriter before Christmas, so if he has a Myspace, I know I probably won’t be the only one who’d like to check it out.

Review Written by Nicky Carder 22/01/09

Nyk

Nyk starts off the show with an uncharacteristically soft tune. He promises to plunge us into the deepest abyss then pull us out again with his second, more Stoddart-like tune. I did prefer the second of the two but it was nice to see him showing a bit of range.

Dave

I have to be honest that when Dave first got on stage I wasn’t sure his music would be my cup of tea. However, he pleasantly surprised me. His last minute set was original and well constructed (especially since most of the songs were finished on the train on the way here). He has a great range in his voice, demonstrated by the falsetto at the end. I hope to see more of Dave’s stuff in the future.

Roddy Renfrew

Roddy uses our left handed guitar for his set tonight. His first number is a toe tapping blues number called ‘We have just one chance’ which warmed up the crowd. I love his idea for his next song, which was a spoof country song where the man quits drinking and gets his wife back. Give me this over a country tune any day! He finished on a comedy break-up number called ‘Something must be wrong with my baby’….well obviously!

Paul Hughes

Paul assures us that he doesn’t intend to bring us cheer with his set and will stick to the usual singer-songwriter melancholy. His first two songs ‘Its over’ and ‘I just want to go home’ were true to this. Beautiful songs sung in his sumptuous tone. He apologises for his last song as he doesn’t like it very much……begs the question ‘why play it then?’ But I guess trying out songs is what this night is all about. As it turns out, I really enjoyed his first dabble into reggae. I’m not convinced it was exactly this genre but it had a pleasant beat with a bit of added whistling, which always gets a thumbs up in my books.

Paul Gladwell

As our compere pointed out, Paul is the second in our trilogy of Paul’s this evening and he doesn’t let down the name. I enjoyed his first song but I felt the lyrics were a little cliché for me. I started to feel the same about the second song ‘Great Expectations’, but as he plucked his way through the melody and sung us the love song, it started to come across as really genuine and I warmed to him. He ended his set with a much more dark song with lyrics ‘the end is nigh’……all very serious.

Paul Gilbody

Finally, the end to our exciting trilogy of Paul and our Featured Act for this evening. Paul is a big player here in the Edinburgh music scene but I have only seen him a few times. I think everyone in the room was looking forward to this.

He bravely starts off with a new song, which doesn’t have a title yet. It was kind of a folky acoustic tune and I really enjoyed it. He is clearly a very experienced and accomplished songwriter, as it had everything a good song needs. Perfect start.

Next Paul introduces us to his percussionist for the evening Mac Lamont, who accompanies him on his song ‘Ricochet’. I’m not quite sure what Mac was playing but it looked like a kind of clay vase with a hole in it. Nevertheless, the whole article of Mac’s playing and Paul’s funky beat really gets the crowd going and wanting more. Just to show us how eclectic he is Paul transports us to Asia with his Kashmir Valley-inspired ‘200 miles’. He is backed by Udit Duseja, who adds the perfect touch to this evocative number.

There is no doubt that by now everyone in the audience is very impressed. Yet, not as impressed as I was when Mac pulled out his hang (no, this is not a euphemism for something rude!). The hang is one of my favourite instruments. It looks like two woks stuck together and has the most amazing, haunting sound. This went perfectly with Paul’s song ‘Quicksand’, which was a moody atmospheric song. I love the diversity this guy brings to the show.

Paul definitely brought his entourage tonight and next up is Jane Seawright (Sorry if I spell it wrong) doing backing vocals. This is possibly my favourite song ever! Called ‘She Loves Sushi’, Paul and Jane bop around on stage to lyrics such as ‘The fox with the bento box’. That to me is just genius lyric writing! Topped with Mac on the tambourine, I could have listened to that all night, as long as I had some sushi to go with it!

‘Tell me what I’m missing’ is Paul final song. Its another toe-tapper, which starts off quite similar in style to the sushi song but ended in a crescendo of beat boxing by Paul that begs the question…. ‘Is there anything this guy can’t do?’.

Paul delighted and wowed the crowd from start to finish with his eclectic slot. In fact everyone loved it so much he was forced into an encore, which was great.

Colin

Who else makes their own instruments? Oh that’s right, no one! That means, for me, Colin is already on a higher level. Tonight he played one of his very fine, handmade guitars. His tunes flutter between funny and poignant. I particularly enjoyed the song ‘Remember your Angina’. After a quick trip to the ‘bracing Skegness’ he finishes on ‘Before you go’. He apologises as he feels the lyrics are a bit down-beat. I think he’ll be ok with this since he is playing to a room of singer-songwriters! I enjoyed his set immensely and can’t wait to see what instrument he’ll be playing next time.

Johnny Pugh

I’ve not seen Johnny play in ages so it is a great pleasure to see him tonight. Unfortunately, due to some technical hitches his set wasn’t as smooth as he hoped. But Johnny, ever the professional, kept going throughout, and I really enjoyed his set. His first song ‘Bigger things’ is a great song to start with as its got a great uplifting chorus that set a perfect tone for his set. However, it was his final song Inertia Acoustic that really stole the show. When Johnny gets into the chorus he takes the whole audience with him and silenced the room. Simply Beautiful.

Beggar Girls

The name was a bit misleading tonight as one of the girls was replaced with a boy but we were still treated to a set in true beggar girls fashion. I do enjoy a bit of accordion, mainly because it just looks so mind-blowingly difficult to play. Their sound is undoubtedly very different, especially here amongst singer-songwriters, which made is a refreshing set. Tonight, however I felt that the songs were all quite similar in tone and sound. Perhaps this is just a result of the instrument combination but I would have preferred a bit of variation.

Ross Neilson

With his distinct voice Ross definitely offers something different to the night. I do, however, have an overwhelming urge to offer this man a throat sweet as soon as he comes off stage because it sounds like he’s really stretching his voice with each song. I’m not sure if this is intentional or just his style but it concerns me a little. Unfortunately I feel that this over-shadows his songs a bit. I did nevertheless think his second song showed potential. I also feel he needs to explore the frets a wee bit more to expand his songs.

Bobby Nicolson

Our first (and last) newby of the night.

This end slot tends to be the last one that anyone wants. This is usually due to the fact that people are either leaving or have had a few too many beers to really pay attention. Therefore, you need to be really entertaining to hold people in. This is exactly what he did. With confidence and great stage presence he captivated people into his first song ‘Things to do when nothing’s on the telly’. Comedy wee song with some apt political jibes thrown in. Suddenly the flagging audience was back again. He kept this going with his numbers song and ended with the song ‘its going my way’. Full of energy and a perfect ending.