“A pocketful of Harmonicas”

or the review of 5/5/09

a multimedia play by Rego Gunloop the 17^th

Chapter One – “Musos palace”

(Stage set: An open mic venue in the basement of the Tron, Edinburgh)

(Sound effects: baudy shouting from outside, whilst glasses clink, and a busty male barmaid laughs uproariously – the first character appears at the mic…)

Mr Broken

After thrashing Black Beauty to bits (metaphorically of course!) during the sound-check he starts “Summer Rose”. This reminds me of the time that a bargain basement sooth-sayer once said to me “ribbons and bows” but he was insane so I didn’t give him any money and he shot me with a water pistol. Oh, and Jim’s song is good – a sound about not getting any – esp. between 25-35. What a world!

He sounds like my gran on steroids sometimes though – “reach into the cage” he sings – I think he has a thing about hamsters – maybe not – next, he hoots like Little Richard with an improvised song. Finally, in “Guns in the desert” – the hero walks out of the saloon and out of the town because he realises we sold and they bought. We sold and they bought. The arms trade is an ugly business – and the less said about the leg trade the better….

Sam Barber

One of my favourite performers, who reminds me of haircuts – we see too little of him here, and so it’s most welcome to hear his songs at OOTB again. After trying to bribe me wiv 5p and a bit of chewing gum (students eh ?) I lied when I said I’d give a good review, so here it is:

“Story of my life” is a song that consist of C9ths as far as my myopic ears can tell – it is buskesque, but with a folky pop melody.

His speciality – his trademark is 12 string chordings which adds something chimey to proceedings. Whatever those are.

“Theory of everything” is an award-winning song – which has groovy key changes, and I’ll have a short back and sides please mate.

I wish I was intelligent enough to understand his lyrics though – but it seems like a mixture of Einstein singing a love song. Finally, “Thursday” – despite being sung on the wrong day, has a spangly and high-capoed sound with almost modal chordings – he also sings “yeah” in a hip way. We demand to hear more of your fine pop talents Mr Barber – please return soon! We also have a house pair of scissors…

Dave Robertson, aka Heroin in a Nutshell

A regular performer at OOTB who has been travelling all the way from Dundee just to play at our humble open-mic, Dave has been a most welcome presence here – one of the new van garde perhaps ?

“This is the real world” is a song about Celeb types – quiet intro then stabby loud/soft with some great melodic touches – proving Dave has much more talent than most celebs…

“Welcome to the jungle baby” he sings with a sincere & passionate vocal. Tarzan suddenly appears and draws a cartoon – or was that just in my mind ?

“Streets are fucking empty…you’d better hack it baby” is a fab catch-line – he sure can hit those high notes too – when the chorus kicks in it just sails away…

“Question” – Dave dedicates this song to OOTBs own musoprof Calum Carlyle, with some very striking and dynamic chords, and a mesmerising vocal. Has a delicious flamenco thing going in places as well. Nice key changes. And maybe a bit of “nu-Radiohead” perhaps (apologies for the comparison!) – which may mean mournful and reflective, but angry and dynamic. It’s always a worth-while journey for Dave to play here, for him and us, as we always look forward to his songs.

Ryan

He states that this first song is his oldest surviving song – he writes loads apparently, but like Victorian children only some make it to adulthood…

“Mexico” – which has nowt to do with Mexico, with words like “bones structures mainly, god and love. Say once, once!

“Talk amongst yourselves” has some very intricate finger-picking here – which reminds me of James Taylor again, but it slides into a resolving major-fifteenth, so that’s all right then…James Taylor is the name of our sheriff in these parts by the by – he wears a badge, but has no gun…so that’s all right then.

Overall, some cool songs…hope to hear more soon!

John Watson (debut)

Driven up from Scarbourgh today – “Ace in my pocket” is a great picking blues – you can tell he’s played a few places – within a few bars – he’s captured everyones attention. “Slidey backshifting devil of a man” he sings whilst playing great, well-placed blues riffs. “Station master in this godforsaken town” is a slower tune but just as well played – even Billy the Kid would keep in his guns, and hide behind the busty male barmaid, after such great playing.

“We’ve got our problems” finishes with it’s jazzy, but bluesy feel – but with sophisticated progressions. Truly mind-blowing. We hope you return sir! – your amazing playing keeps us from complacency!

Bill Phillips

OOTB’s poet laureate recites his most famous poem

And we all say “Intermission!”

In a surreal twist of theatre, the narrator steps up to the mic. Darren Thornberry takes over the story…

Nyk Stoddart adjusts his spectacles mid-song like the consummate professional he is - 2 June 2009

Nyk Stoddart

MantlePeace is a pensive little ditty. Nyk hears footsteps in his head, which may or may not be a good thing. The tune here is funerary, mournful, lyrically abstract.

Mr. Sleaze – ahhh, this song deals a fatal blow to its subject. Nyk shows off some vibrato and the modulation is a nice layer to the song.

Kitten in a Bong. Who me? No one will own up to actually putting the cat there, but as Nyk indicts the ancient hippies it would be foolish to deny the funny fantasy. After all, it’s just a made up story.

The Narrator steps through the saloon doors, and as people dive into corners, expecting a showdown, a figure appears on the far end of the bar and the narrator faces him…

Jim Whyte

The ancient mariner of OOTB sings his new song “Ship” – “do de doo do dee do” on a stormy, jaunty sea – he’s trying to “fit my ship together” – like airfix ? – I do like those model planes. From the lyric “Sailing across the sea” he goes into a more plaintive mode…but soon it gets louder and louder…I think that’s called “rousing”.

“I’ve found love” is one of my favourite songs of his. Genuinely moving, it’s about finding something you didn’t expect…how love makes you act strange…

“Live feed” – this song may be about reality TV, where he “blacks out my windows – turn on my TV…there’s a fly on the wall…watching it all”…Then there’s the Jerry Springer bit…fab!

Jim has obviously not lost his talent to mesmerise an audience…more new songs soon Jim!

Darren Thornberry

I can’t possibly do a review of this man’s work, and do it any justice, but nonetheless:

Our very own Darren Thornberry plays us .”Chips and Curry”.

“Chips!”

“Curry!” the audience scream.

Darren then plays his love song to Edinburgh, whilst mentioning “South and North Bridge” and the moving lyric “The silence has no mercy so we talk awhile instead”. Beautiful.

“Is it true ?” is a melancholy number with his signature heartfelt singing – class.

Darren has a rare talent for song-writing and performing, that combines honesty, catchy melodies, and memorable lyrics. When he departs these shores for the US pretty soon, he will take a part of us with him…not literally obviously, as that would be messy and painful…seriously though, OOTB won’t be the same without him.

Ha! I get the final word, maybe. I’ll dodge the bullet after all, thanks to the incredible writing skill of Darren Thornberry:

Nyk Stoddart

Mutant Zombies – the ultimate show closer goes down a treat. Nah nah nah nah nah. Full stop.

The director shouts “Cut!” – and the barber comes out – does everyone’s hair, and everyone leaves. Everyone’s forgotten the sheriff, however, and he’s gone wrong…in fact he now looks like Yul Brynner…

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