I don’t do many posts on new bands, mainly because they don’t share the emotion or warmth of acts from the sixties/seventies. However, Leicester’s rapidly rising group Demons of Ruby Mae are the exception.
Their stripped back approach of emotively played piano, guitar and drums lets the startling vocals of Jonny Gavin shine. Tied to an indie/folk/rock sensibility fans of Doves will particularly welcome these new arrivals to the music scene.
Rumour has it that Whispering Bob Harris is a fan and no wonder. They recently released the excellent Heliacal EP, but I won’t go into detail to review the music - just give them a listen and catch them on their summer tour before they become absolutely massive.
Demons of Ruby Mae - The Boy Who Cried Wolf & Volcanic Mouth
In July 1969, as Beau, Trevor Midgley released the very first single on John Peel’s Dandelion Records, followed by two critically acclaimed albums prior to the label’s demise. In 1975 with his trusty twelve-string in hand, he recorded an album’s worth of material that through a twist of fate didn’t see a release at the time. The Sound of Salvation label has now presented this material, that would have been Beau’s third album in the format it deserves: in heavyweight vinyl, high quality artwork and lyric sheet.
It does sound excellent in analogue and though a few tracks have crept out from the archives over the years this is their most fitting setting.
“Love Is” one of the few love songs in Beau’s catalogue and is an excellent way for the uninitiated to hear this master songsmith. The second track “The Roses of Eyam”, a true story based on the Great Plague is already a folk standard due to Roy Bailey’s release but this is the original and best version.
Beau -- "The Roses Of Eyam" (live at The Castle, Manchester)
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Beau digs far deeper and wider than most songwriters and his topics inform and challenge the listener from child abduction in “Miss Alice Preece”, “Cartoon” – colonialism, to alternative World War Two events in “Bristol Museum”.
Other favourites include “Black Raven of the Morning” and “Shanty Town”; the latter with a political edge. The aptly named “Goodbye” finishes this splendid long player; it focuses on the passing nature of life but this is a record that will live long in the memory.
Attic Lights were the darlings of the music press with their 2008 debut album Friday Night Lights but after leaving their deal with Island they’ve come back fighting with storming follow up Super De Luxe. It’s an infectious album blending indie rock and pop with sixties and seventies influences.
Kicking off with “Say You Love Me” it sets the scene for the core of Super De Luxe with its catchy melodies, stomping guitars and gorgeous harmonies.
ATTIC LIGHTS - Say You Love Me [Official]
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They bring a pop rock disco feel with “Stay Before You Leave” whilst they’ve taken their lead from Teenage Fanclub producer Frances Macdonald on the anthemic melancholy of “Mona Lisa” and pop hooks of “Don’t You”.
ATTIC LIGHTS - Don't You [Official]
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On “Hit And Miss” I hear the energy of early XTC and on this jukebox of sounds it switches completely to Sweetheart Rodeo Byrds with the touching ballad “Lock Me Out”. Their tribute to The Big O, “Orbison” steers back towards powerpop with an instantly hummable chorus.
Ending with “Gabrielle” they save the best to last with McCartneyesque chords and a modern Beatles ballad Julian Lennon would be proud to present today.
So with Super De LuxeAttic Lights don’t expect pretentious lyrics or mindwarping sounds but instead hear an extremely enjoyable record from these Scottish pop masters.
A hauntingly lovely record by James McKeown, lead guitarist who is taking sabbatical from the Bristol group Hi Fiction Science.
English Dream is one of those creative records which glide along and gives on sound picture in the mind of an England of not so long ago…as in a dream.
In the same vain as The Pretty Things S.F.Sorrow and the Zombies Odessey & Oracle with a mix of the Strawbs and The Incredible String Band’s early long tracks. James takes us from”Dead Maids” (A Birth in a Hospital) – Tripping on “Life Aboard The International Space Station” The Experience of Childhood to a love song “English Dream” through to passing over the great divide with “The Architects Grave” .
The cover picture gives a hint; it looks like an abandoned ward of a hospital near Bristol…Where are most of us born and Die?
English Dream is a record which requires concentrated listing. It is a beautiful when one wants to unwind from a hectic day and wants to listen to music of substance.
James brings us a modern Folk Gothic masterpiece like a wonderful dream in it’s quality and execution.
nick nicely will always be fondly remembered his ground breaking, genre busting, should have been massive pop hit “hilly fields (1892)”. However more critically, nick’s releases over the past 30 years have redefined psychedelia, breaking free of the sixties straight jacket combining electronica with rock experimentation. nick gave the Strange Brew a rare interview last year and promised more new material including the excellent “wrottersley road”.
The Emotional Response label have now released “wrottersley road” in a rather splendid vinyl EP. It combines the original track that featured on his Lysergia album a few years back with some excellent remixes that extend and reinvent the track whilst retaining its essential core.
nick goes back to South London for the song’s theme and presents his now signature washes of psychedelic ambience, numan-esque vocals and dissonant throbbing beat. The two remixes by The Invisible Hands and The Oscillation respectively, achieve the rare feat of twisting the track to enable the listener to hear the song with fresh ears but without being overbearing. They really do capture and expand the essence of the original production. nick continues to push the boundaries of psych and I heartedly recommend this excellent EP.
Being a contemporary of the sixties scene, Canadian Brian L Forsythe set himself a goal of uncovering and amassing a wealth of facts associated with the songs that helped shape his teens. The five years he spent dissecting all the major artists from both sides of the Atlantic was certainly well spent as his new book “Inside The Songs Of The Sixties” is an informative witty coffee table read.
For example, we hear about Doug Sandom – The Who/Detour’s original drummer, George Sherlock the Stones’ “Under Assistant West Coast Promotion Man” and the effect a bottle of Blue Nun wine had on The Beatles ‘Long, Long, Long’. There’s a few themes across all these vignettes: artist deaths, strange quotes, inspiration for classic tracks and the jobs artists undertook after they left the charts. I have one very minor bone to pick! Ray Davies and The Kinks did release rock opera Arthur – one of my favourite albums – albeit the TV play was never made.
