Welcome to the ramblings of a man who really should have grown out of listening to "that sort of music" a long, long time ago...A place to share thoughts and photographs on music and related paraphernalia.
Showing posts with label The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Show all posts
At the end
of my review of The Limiñanas at the 100 Club back in February 2019 I wrote “I
have a feeling that the band will be selling out a much larger venue next time
they come to play in London”. So, here we are at the Scala in Kings Cross, the band are finally back again and yes,
it is much larger than the 100 Club but it’s still completely packed to the
rafters. I also wrote “the most exciting thing of all is that musically The Limiñanas have not set themselves any boundaries, they
can evolve in any way they choose. So as a fan, it will be fascinating to
continue following them on the journey that lies ahead”. Well, it’s been some
journey, that’s for sure. At that 100 Club show they included two new numbers
in the set “Dreams” and “The Last Picture Show” and these pointed the way to a
busy, creative time for the band. Those two songs ended up as part of a superb
new project called L'Épée which included Anton Newcombe of the Brian Jonestown Massacre and the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner. I was lucky enough to see them play in London at the end of 2019, it was another mind-blowing performance
and the year belonged to The Limiñanas and L'Épée.
Then of course came the
unexpected two-year horror of the COVID pandemic but it certainly didn’t stop
the creative output of Lionel and Marie as they immersed themselves in movie
and TV music culminating in the brilliant score for “The World We Knew" along with “The
Devil Inside Me” and “The Ballad of Linda L.” collaborations with David Menke. Then
with their latest album “De Pelicula”, they have collaborated with the DJ and
Producer Laurent Garnier to produce a hypnotic Electro-Techno-Fuzzed-up monster
of a record. Moving away from the 60’s Garage Rock and Ye-Ye influences somewhat,
this is a thoroughly modern sounding masterpiece that perfectly melds together
Dance and Rock cultures. Live, the new songs work extremely well as is immediately
apparent with the brilliant opening two song salvo of the single “Saul” and “Je
Rentrais Par Le Bois”. To help capture this new direction, the band have
recruited Edi Pistolas, the Chilean musician from the Dark Wave/Post-Punk bands
Panico and Nova Materia to add his electronic sounds, percussion and half-sung
half-rap vocals to the mix. He’s also a compelling and charismatic performer and
he ups the visual impact to the max when he takes centre stage.
We then get
treated to a superb set encompassing the new album, old favourites such as “Down
Underground” and classic singles like “Dimanche”, “Istanbul Is Sleepy” and “The
Gift”. There’s the superb cover of Can’s “Mother Sky” which they have kind of adopted
as their own and they even cover Lionel’s old band Beach Bitches “Crank”, a
surefire Garage Punk classic that almost blows the roof off the Scala. Talking of
which, the sound at the Scala is pretty good from down at the front but the
lighting less so. There seems to be a shadow from a monitor or speaker
obscuring Marie’s face for most of the set and there’s an extremely low stage
for such a size of venue. This means that you’ve got to work hard for good
views of all the action, and of course, it’s The Limiñanas so there is certainly
plenty of action. I haven’t seen such a compelling and visually exciting live
band since The Soundtrack of Our Lives split up in 2012 – well, possibly Oh!Gunquit would qualify – but in terms of sheer overwhelming, jaw-dropping
spectacle then The Limiñanas are right up there.
Just like The Soundtrack of Our Lives, each member
is integral not only to the band’s sound, but also their look and each member
brings their own character and personality to the party. Whether, its Lionel
hunched over, wringing mind-blowing fuzzed up riffs from his guitar, all wild
hair and impressive beard or Marie’s joyful and original drumming – hammering
her snare and floor-tom, red hair flailing and glowing in the lights. There’s
no cymbals, no high-hat, just a tribal hypnotic and relentless beat. Bassist
Mikey Malaga has a unique style with his low-slung black Fender Precision, it's every
bit the iconic bass look – he swings and sways with his bass, totally hypnotic.
Renaud Picard sings most of the lead vocal parts and adds layers of haunting backing
vocals and acoustic guitar. Then, I suppose most great visual bands have to
have a quiet member, it’s usually the bassist - The Who’s John Entwistle, the
Stones’ Bill Wyman and TSOOL's Kalle Gustafsson spring to
mind – just to keep everything balanced and in check. I guess this role falls
to Alban Barate who although half-hidden at the back, adds some superb guitar
work and keyboards and certainly shouldn’t be overlooked in his contribution to
the sound.
To top it all, I think every great band needs to have an eccentric and
enigmatic member and this position is filled by Ivan Telefunken who has become
something of a cult hero with fans. He’s totally out there and unique,
completely lost in the music, he throws his guitar around wildly before pushing
it against his amp to illicit screams of feedback and white noise which he
skillfully manipulates to add so much texture and atmosphere to The Limiñanas
sound. He also adds keyboards, which are decorated in eye-catching,
multi-coloured polka dots. Ivan is to The Limiñanas what Eno was to Roxy Music,
Blixa was to the Bad Seeds and Johnny Greenwood was to Radiohead - he
fills the role of musical alchemist absolutely perfectly. He also takes over
lead vocals on a raucous version of The Undertones “Teenage Kicks” which closes
the set and goes down a storm, especially with long-time Limiñanas fan Damian
O’Neill, who is in the crowd tonight.
To digress, it was a pleasure to introduce
them after the show and be reminded that even your favourite musicians can
still be big music fans after all and the mutual appreciation was heart-warming
to see. The band return for an encore and this time it's Marie taking on lead
vocals for a pulsing version of Suicide’s “Cheree” which morphs into a transcendental
mash-up of “Je M’en Vais” and “The Train Creep A-Loopin’”, absolutely stunning!
The outpouring of appreciation and affection at the end of the show was quite
emotional, the band seemed genuinely as happy as us fans did as they stood there
together accepting the acclaim. Well, I said it before but I’ll say it again, I
think next time they visit they are going to need a much bigger venue!
For more information on The Limiñanas, please visit their official web-site here. You can check out our feature on the 100 Club show in the Retro Man Blog archive here and the L'Épée show at EartH in Hackney here. Don't forget the special Retrosonic Podcast Episode 37 entitled "Songs The Limiñanas Taught Us" in which I take a look at the band's history including some of their previous and related bands such as Beach Bitches, Les Bellas, Crank and Hair & The Iotas along with a pick of some of their many and varied cover versions. The episode is still available at our archive if you subscribe for free to Retrosonic Podcast at Soundcloud or Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes and Apple Podcasts. You can also listen or download below. You will also find some of our original videos of The Limiñanas and L'Épée if you subscribe to our Retromanblog65 YouTube channel here.
In this episode of our Retrosonic Podcast Lockdown Lowdown series we welcome Mike and Elsa from one of our favourite new groups, The Jack Cades, following the release of their superb second album "Perfect View". Mike and Elsa take us on a musical trip through some of their favourite albums, singles, gigs, happenings and people that had an influence on their own impressive work with Thee Vicars, The Baron Four, The Missing Souls and of course with The Jack Cades. Generously soundtracked by some of their favourite songs including Nirvana, The Milkshakes, The Masonics, Rodriguez, The Stone Roses, Buzzcocks, The Beatles, The (International) Noise Conspiracy, Spacemen 3, The Squires and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. There's also a pick of their very own music from Thee Vicars, The Missing Souls, The Baron Four and of course The Jack Cades.
Please click on the highlighted links above for more information on the featured bands and how to buy their music. The Jack Cades Facebook page is here for news about on-line performances and releases. Please kindly do what you can to support Bands, Artists, Record Companies and Venues in these difficult times. Subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast for FREE at iTunes or at our Soundcloud site/archive here. This episode can also be downloaded or streamed directly below.
In Episode 37 of Retrosonic Podcast, Steve from Retro Man Blog takes a look at the Blog's "Band(s) of 2019" The Limiñanas and their collaboration with Anton Newcombe and the French actress Emmanuelle Seigner in the project L'Épée. We look at The Limiñanas other collaborations with Étienne Daho, Peter Hook, Bertrand Belin and Pascal Comelade, pick out some great previous and related bands and play some originals of the various cover versions they have recorded over the years. Featuring great songs by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Gentlemen, Wanda Jackson & The Cramps, The Kinks, Echo & The Bunnymen, Lords of The New Church, Jay Reatard, Michel Polnareff. The Beach Bitches, Les Bellas, Toxic Farmers, The Llamps, Hair & The Iotas & Les Wampas. Here's the track-list, please click on the highlighted links to find out more information on the bands and how to order their records. Enjoy!
You can subscribe to Retrosonic Podcast at iTunes or listen direct from Soundcloud...
Retrosonic Podcast has a valid PRS licence. Cover photo courtesy of Alain Bibal, you can check out more of Alain's excellent photography here. Please check out The Limiñanas excellent on-line store Migas 2000 at Etsy for lots of Limiñanas and related albums and merchandise.
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
I first became aware of L'Épée following The Limiñanas superb show at the 100 Club in London back in February. They played a couple of great sounding songs that I didn’t recognise and I guessed they were new unrecorded tracks. After a bit of research I found a couple of demos on YouTube under the name L'Épée. I was intrigued and then news filtered out that this was some new kind of ‘super-group’, the idea for which could probably be traced back to the release of last year’s Limiñanas album “Shadow People”. The Limiñanas are an unorthodox band. They are a duo comprising the husband and wife team of Marie and Lionel Limiñana and as neither are lead vocalists, they prefer to recruit guest musicians and singers to bring their songs to life. This philosophy culminated in the excellent 2018 album “Shadow People” which featured Anton Newcombe of The Brian Jonestown Massacre, actress and singer Emmanuelle Seigner and vocalist Bertrand Belin who all contributed standout songs. They must have enjoyed working together as Lionel, Belin and Newcombe set about writing new material together initially with the idea of a new solo album for Emmanuelle. However, this idea soon developed into a brand new band instead which they named L'Épée and the resulting songs would go towards the stunning debut album “Diabolique”. At first I thought it would remain a studio project but the announcement of extensive live dates was met with intense anticipation. Unfortunately, Belin isn’t involved in the touring line-up, which is made up of Marie on drums and Lionel on guitar, Emmanuelle on lead vocals, Anton on guitar and then basically The Limiñanas line-up that I saw at The 100 Club (minus vocalist Nika Leeflang who is now working on some excellent solo material as can be heard in our latest episode of Retrosonic Podcast).
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
As the band takes the stage of EartH in Hackney, the first thing I notice is this large broadsword appearing out of the dry ice and lights like Excalibur. As L'Épée means sword in French it was an apt piece of decoration and it would certainly deter any would-be stage invaders, that’s for sure. The glowing Moroccan lanterns hanging all around the stage provide the perfect backdrop to opening song “La Brigade De Maléfices”. With it's snakelike Arabic influenced riff and exotic swelling keyboards, it could almost be the score from a movie set deep inside the chaotic souks and Medina of Marrakech. I’ve always found The Limiñanas to be incredibly cinematic, in fact it’s no surprise that the latest release from the prolific Marie and Lionel is the soundtrack to Pierre Creton’s movie “Le Bel été” and with L'Épée, they have carried this feel even further. Yes, there are elements of fuzzed-up 60’s Garage Rock nuggets, the nihilistic attack of The Stooges and the feedback drenched Drone-Rock of The Jesus & Mary Chain and Spacemen 3, but there are also evocative touches of Spaghetti Western and Nouvelle Vague movie themes too. I think Ennio Morricone, Lalo Schifrin and John Barry might be as much an influence as The Velvet Underground, Serge Gainsbourg, Can and Suicide. The gig that follows is a truly mind-blowing experience, one that is going to stay with me for years to come. Marie’s hypnotic floor-tom heavy beat is at the heart of everything, it’s almost mantra-like, completely bereft of cymbals and hi-hat, Emmanuelle’s tambourine is the only percussive accompaniment. Lionel attacks his guitar, a master of knowing when to hold back and when to hit you between the eyes with a stinging fuzzed-up chord. His sense of dynamics allied to Marie’s drumming is probably the key to the sound of both L'Épée and The Limiñanas too.
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
The band perform the whole of “Diabolique” (minus “Springfield 61”) and despite the album only being a few months old, it already feels like an old favourite that’s been part of the collection for years, such is the quality of the song-writing. Emmanuelle is a charismatic presence swaying away to the grooves, an archetypal Femme Fatale and her voice is perfect for the material, often delivered in sultry spoken passages. Although she is probably better known as an actress, she is certainly no stranger to Rock ‘n’ Roll having released a couple of great solo albums and a collaboration with the Psych Rock band Ultra Orange. Fans of The Brian Jonestown Massacre will no doubt appreciate Anton’s instantly recognisable sound and memorable riffs when they hear L'Épée, and tonight his guitar playing is superb. There is however a section of one song where the complicated riffing and time signatures drop out of sync and you feel the tension rise. You can also sense the nerves in the crowd, hoping that Anton doesn’t blow his top. Luckily, he seems more annoyed at himself and before the tension gets too much, they all suddenly lock back into the groove and take off again with just a pinch of additional aggression. One of the highlights of the set is an upbeat new song “Beginnings of Sorrow” which is more of a catchy Garage Yé-yé number and with it’s insistent "I say yeah!" chorus; it would make an ideal single. The good news is that it hints to more L'Épée material to follow in the future. “Dreams” is another high point, crashing in on a “Gloria” style riff; it certainly raises the temperature in the strangely cold venue. At one point they all crowd around Marie’s drumkit, the orange lights and smoke create a really spooky scene and as the music builds to a crescendo Anton scrapes his guitar neck down the broadsword.
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
Things slow down a bit with sublime performances of the atmospheric “On Dansait Avec Elle” and “Grande” and you can appreciate the subtle textures that the band is capable of. I spoke before in my review of The Limiñanas 100 Club gig one thing that struck me is the skill that Marie and Lionel have in assimilating many and varied guest musicians and vocalists to bring their music to life. The main core of the band are also great characters in their own right. There’s Renaud Picard from the excellent Crank on guitar and vocals and super cool bassist Mikey Malaga, swaying and swinging his low-slung Fender. Then there’s Alban Barate who plays keyboards and adds yet another guitar. In fact, I haven’t seen a line-up with so many guitars since the last time I saw The Blue Aeroplanes. Ivan Telefunken is a true character but unfortunately he’s almost hidden away at the back and his fluorescent dotted guitars and keyboards are often all that’s visible through the dry ice. He coaxes strange electronic sounds and controlled feedback from his collection of brightly coloured equipment, swinging his guitar around for maximum effect and his presence adds a touch of unpredictability to proceedings. They remind me of The Soundtrack of Our Lives in their prime where each band member adds their own unique stamp on proceedings and their energy makes for a stunningly exciting visual display. Talking of TSOOL – have a listen to their great collaboration with Jane Birkin, “Midnight Children” – it could almost be a forerunner of “Shadow People”.
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
L'Épée at EartH Hackney, London - Photo Retro Man Blog
Current single “Ghost Rider” is another high point, reprising The Limiñanas “I’m Dead” in the chorus and the B-side, the powerful Garage Rocker “Shiny Shiny” also stands out. For “Istanbul Is Sleepy”, Anton puts down his guitar and crouches on the floor to manipulate his effects pedals while delivering his only lead vocal of the night. They end the set with a blistering ‘Un Rituel Inhabituel’, which segues into ‘The Train Creep A-Loopin’, and then it’s all over. There’s no encore, basically because they couldn’t really follow up such a perfectly plotted set and the appreciative crowd certainly understand, filing out into the freezing December air thoroughly satisfied. It was a stunning show and gig of year as far as I’m concerned, jumping into top spot ahead of – yes, you guessed it - The Limiñanas at The 100 Club. You can read the review of that show in the Blog archive here.
More photos of the gig can be found at our official Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and there are more videos at our YouTube channel over here. For more information please click on the highlighted links throughout the feature. You can also check out the official sites for L'Épée here and The Limiñanas here. "Diabolique" is released on A Recordings and is available from Cargo Records.
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
This was my first live experience of The Limiñanas and I was curious to find out how the Perpignan based duo of Lionel and Marie Limiñana would recreate their studio sound on stage. Each album features a somewhat bewildering cast of guest musicians and vocalists whose names have become more familiar as their reputation grows. Anton Newcombe from The Brian Jonestown Massacre guested on the excellent single “Istanbul Is Sleepy” and has gone on to produce their latest outstanding LP “Shadow People”. French actress Emmanuelle Seigner sings on that album’s title track and Joy Division and New Order’s Peter Hook adds his instantly recognisable trademark bass to "The Gift", following up his appearance on their last album "Malamore". The Limiñanas are the band that have everything, everything except cymbals that is. The first thing I see as I walk into the 100 Club is a huge bass drum resplendent with the band’s logo, pushed right to the front of the shallow stage. There’s also a floor tom and a snare drum but there's not a cymbal or Hi-Hat in sight, just a tambourine fixed to the floor tom for added percussion and that’s it. The Limiñanas sound is based on Marie’s pounding hypnotic Mo Tucker style. She is a remarkable drummer; how she can keep that rhythm up throughout the show without being exhausted, I just don’t know.
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
They are certainly an unorthodox band, Lionel attacks his guitar and cranks out some excellent riffs but doesn't sing at all during the show, his microphone is only used to say thank you every now and then. What Marie and Lionel have done is to assemble a quite superb band around them to realise their sound and vision perfectly. Each member has their own distinct character and personality and there's a great chemistry between all of the musicians on stage; this is certainly not just a bunch of session musicians thrown together to do a tour. Ivan Telefunken almost steals the show despite being set up behind Marie’s drums. He is a constant blur of motion. If he’s not swaying along to the music or adding backing harmonies, he’s playing a small keyboard or throwing his guitar and ukulele about with abandon. One minute he’s attacking his guitar violently with a bottleneck slide and the next it’s a violin bow. At one point, he even bangs it alarmingly with a large metal spoon. All the tools of his trade are brightly painted with multi-coloured polka dots and it makes a great visual contrast as the rest of the band are decked out all in black. Renaud Picard takes on the main male vocal parts and acoustic guitar and behind him is Alban Barate on guitars, ukulele and keyboards. The lead female vocals are handled by Nika Leeflang, who also bashes away on a tambourine, often half hidden behind her swirling hair. To her side, Bassist Mickey Malaga looks cool with his low-slung Fender Precision bass, Paul Simonon and JJ Burnel style, just as any good bassist should.
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Limiñanas are not only a visually impressive live band; their sound is also extremely cinematic. Throughout their albums and indeed tonight’s show, they drop in instrumental interludes such as “Tigre du Bengale” that mix exotic Eastern, Turkish and Moroccan motifs. Overall, their sound is infused with Ennio Morricone’s Spaghetti Western soundscapes and John Barry’s Spy movie and TV theme tunes with twanging surf guitar riffs and an impressive sense of dynamics. Ivan coaxes weird feedback and noises out of a strange contraption and this adds layers of distortion and depth to the proceedings. This evocative approach is also to the fore in their spoken word vignettes such as “Dimanche”, which are obviously heavily influenced by Serge Gainsbourg’s classic “Histoire de Melody Nelson”. One of my favourite songs on the new album is the title track “Shadow People” which in the recorded version features vocals by the actress and musician Emmanuelle Seigner. It reminds me of The Soundtrack of Our Lives “Midnight Children” in which the Swedish Psych Rock legends invited Jane Birkin to duet with their singer Ebbot Lundberg. The good thing is that, rather like TSOOL, The Limiñanas take their varied influences and twist them into something totally unique. You can sense that they are enthusiastic music fans but they are certainly not trapped by their inspirations and do not fit easily into any particular genre. After all, Lionel has gone on record as saying that The Limiñanas basic rule is to “respect no dogma”. This is apparent in some of the cover versions they have recorded by acts as diverse as The Beach Boys, Jay Reatard, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Kinks and Lords of The New Church. Actually, I was disappointed they never played LOTN’s “Russian Roulette” even though it was down on the set-list as a possible encore. Nouvelle Vague have already recorded a Bossa Nova version of “Dance With Me” and with the new Stiv Bators documentary, maybe The Lords of The New Church will finally get a well-deserved reappraisal!
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
Two unfamiliar numbers really stand out, “Dreams” and “Last Picture Show” turn out to be unreleased songs from a new project called L'épée which features Lionel and Marie along with Anton Newcombe and Emmanuelle Seigner. I’ve been told they have an album’s worth of material already recorded and that will definitely be something to keep an eye on. Despite incorporating some challenging, discordant elements into their music, The Limiñanas never lose that all-important sense of melody, particularly on the fuzzed up riffs of their debut single “I’m Dead” and my personal favourite “Funeral Baby”, both of which, despite the rather morbid titles, are as catchy as hell. Nika’s voice really shines on these two numbers and her breathy, sultry style is the perfect match. It wasn’t a surprise to discover that she is also a singer songwriter in her own right with two excellent EP’s out under the name The Nika Leeflang Project. One of the highlights of the gig for me was “Crank” which was a blast of raw Garage Rock adrenaline. I didn’t know this song at all but after a bit of research found out it was from one of Lionel’s old bands, The Beach Bitches. Trying to track down more information led me to discover Renaud’s band Crank who were so inspired by The Beach Bitches song that they named themselves and their debut album after it as well as recording their own version. I must just add that the Crank album is superb and the fact that they mention The Prisoners as an influence earns them extra points.
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
The Limiñanas at The 100 Club - Photo copyright Retro Man Blog
One of the best things about having a “new favourite band”, especially one with such an eclectic musical palette, is that you can happily embark on a voyage of discovery, looking into what each member was up to before, along with any side projects, collaborations and unknown cover versions. For example, before The Limiñanas Lionel and Marie were in Les Bellas and they have an excellent compilation album of early releases called “Belladellic” which is well worth getting hold of. So I’m now on the trail of Pascal Comelade, Bertrand Belin, Ultra Orange, The Toxic Farmers and The Llamps and I’ve even managed to get hold of a compilation of Perpignan based Garage Rock bands. Oh, and I just noticed Hair & The Iotas too so it looks like I have a lot of listening to do. Anyway, back to the gig and a totally wired version of Can’s “Mother Sky” hints at yet another side of the band and that hypnotic driving rhythm certainly makes sense. By coincidence, I bump into The Undertones Damian O’Neill who also plays in the The Everlasting Yeah a band who merge Can’s motorik beat with Television's Richard Lloyd/Tom Verlaine entwined guitar style to great effect. Damian is as enthusiastic about the show as I am and it’s nice to see him shake hands and congratulate bassist Mickey at the end of their set. Up next is the excellent “Betty & Johnny” from their second album “Crystal Anis” and they encore with a raucous sing-along version of “Gloria”. This segues into a manic instrumental and as the song implodes and the set ends, the band look genuinely touched by the warmth of the reaction from the crowd. I am so pleased that I got the chance to be there, right down the front of the packed out 100 Club as I have a feeling that the band will be selling out a much larger venue next time they come to play in London. However, the most exciting thing of all is that musically The Limiñanas have not set themselves any boundaries, they can evolve in any way they choose. So as a fan, it will be fascinating to continue following them on the journey that lies ahead.
For more information on The Limiñanas please check out their official web-site or their Facebook page. Nika Leeflang's music can be found at her Nika Songs website. For more of our photos of the 100 Club gig please head on over to the Retro Man Blog Facebook and there are more videos at our YouTube channel.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog
I realised that I hadn't seen The Brian Jonestown Massacre play live since 2006, I think by that time I’d just had enough of attending some pretty fractious gigs where there was vitriol in the air and the atmosphere was getting unpleasant. It seemed that the success of the documentary "Dig!" was turning out to be something of a double-edged sword. Sure, there was no doubting that the film raised their profile considerably but by concentrating on the violence surrounding the band, gigs started turning into a bit of a freakshow as people were turning up seemingly more intent on goading Anton than appreciating the music. However, I think hearing the brilliant “Aufheben" on its release in 2012 piqued my interest in the band once again and I started to keep a look out for their new releases. I remembered what I originally loved about the BJM and each consecutive release seemed to get better and better, culminating in this year’s stunning album “Something Else”. I suddenly got the urge to catch them play live again so here I am at a sold out packed-to-the-rafters Kentish Town Forum waiting impatiently for my first BJM gig in 12 years to start. Thankfully, as I was to discover through the course of tonight’s gig, the audience has grown with the band, there was zero heckling during the show and now it’s all about the music and nothing but the music.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog
For me, the enduring impression that I got from “Dig!” was that no matter what physical or mental state Anton was in throughout the movie, he always seemed to be consumed by the urge to make music. You could feel it coursing through his veins, bursting to get out. He also reminded me of some other uncompromising maverick favourites of mine working outside the usual corporate music business and all rooted in 60’s Psychedelia such as Julian Cope, Michael Head of Shack and Ebbot Lundberg of The Soundtrack of Our Lives. No matter what extremes these Artists go through, they cannot avoid writing beautiful melodic and moving music. In fact, as an aside, in a recent interview I did with Ebbot, I asked if there was anyone that he wanted to collaborate with and his answer was succinct - “Anton Newcombe”. At our recent Retro Man Blog Night for Ebbot’s return to London with his new band The Indigo Children, we played the BJM’s “Panic In Babylon” as his intro music and it sounded amazing. Anyway, back to the gig and I could feel a buzz of excitement as the band takes the stage, Anton is on the right side facing more towards his band mates than the crowd and I notice there has been a significant change in the line-up that I was once familiar with. I only recognise tambourine maestro Joel Gion (surely a cultural icon...!) and guitarist Ricky Maymi but it’s soon clear that all the new (to me at least) members fit in seamlessly. There is a somewhat low-key opening as they kick off proceedings with a sultry new song "We Never Had a Chance".
The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog
This is followed by the hypnotic “What Happened to Them" which might be more familiar under its Swedish title (not something you'll hear said very often...) "Vad Hände Med Dem?” the opening track on "Revelation". There are only two songs from the excellent new album “Something Else” and these were "Hold That Thought" and the brilliant "Who Dreams of Cats?" which is as catchy as hell. However, Anton’s already moving on and it is testament to his prolific nature that there were more new as yet unreleased songs as there were from the current album. The new single “Forgotten Graves” was absolutely stunning and "Drained" was a revelation, riding in on an acoustic groove and a great guitar riff; it has immediately been transported up there among all my old BJM favourites. Talking of old favourites, the set is peppered with a selection of classics from throughout the band’s career. "Sailor" was sublime, and sums up the very reason why I want to experience live music in the first place, it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. During “Anemone”, the crowd lifts their arms into the air in unison as Anton sings "You should be picking me up" and from my vantage point on the balcony it looked pretty damn impressive. The Brian Jonestown Massacre know how to play with your emotions and the stripped back Gospel-Blues of "The Devil May Care" and its heart-breaking opening line "say goodbye to mum and dad, the two best friends I never had", brings a lump to the throat. Things get a bit more lively with "That Girl Suicide", a breath-taking "Nevertheless" and the Garage Rock singalong nugget "Who?" The familiar riffing of "When Jokers Attack" and a shimmering, almost transcendental "Pish" are both real highlights tonight.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog
There’s not much interaction between band and audience tonight, just a few words from Anton, mainly about his radio show, but he looks relaxed and in good spirits. Joel is his usual laconic self although he does blow his cool once by failing to catch his tambourine after hurling it into the air and it crashes into the photographer’s pit. He redeems himself by trying again and falling to the ground as he successfully catches the next attempt, it’s a classic slapstick moment that injects a bit of warmth and humour into the show. Towards the end of the set Joel produces the biggest tambourine I have ever seen, it’s of Spinal Tap 'one louder' proportions. The band end the show with another new number "A Word" and a couple of roadies with guitars join them. I haven’t seen so many guitarists on stage since the last time I saw The Blue Aeroplanes run through their customary free-for-all encore of Tom Verlaine’s "Breakin' In My Heart". It’s a powerful way to end the set and as the song collapses into squalls of feedback with Ricky playing with his effects pedals, Anton gets behind the drums and suddenly everything turns into a Psychedelic Krautrock rave-up until the house lights go up and I file out of the venue, thoroughly satisfied after such a great show.
The Brian Jonestown Massacre at The Forum - Photo by Retro Man Blog
I must just mention one incident though. Sometime during the set, a fan at the front of the stage gave Anton a cool knitted lookalike doll and the delighted singer props it up next to his amp. I later hear that the doll, who the band had named Tony, was stolen by some backstage chancer; it’s unbelievable that someone could be so dumb and thoughtless. So if anyone has any information please do contact the band. The Brian Jonestown Massacre have a new single “Forgotten Graves” out soon on 'a' Recordings and Anton has collaborated once again with Tess Parks on a fantastic new album "Tess Parks & Anton Newcombe". Tess will be playing a Bad Vibrations show in London at the Dome in Tufnell Park on December 13th, we have our tickets booked and will definitely report on that show for the Blog. Anton has also been working with the brilliant French band The Limiñanas and they are definitely well worth checking out. Finally, as regulars to our Blog and Podcast will know, we are also big fans of Joel Gion’s solo work and I would really recommend his latest self-titled album, you can hear a track in Retrosonic Podcast Episode 29 here.
More photos of the show can be found at the Retro Man Blog Facebook page here and there are some videos at our YouTube channel too, here's a taster...
Elephant Stone - Photo courtesy Crash Avenue Management
Montreal's Elephant Stone have just released their second album entitled "Elephant Stone" and it's already vying with The Fallen Leaves' excellent "If Only We'd Known" as my favourite album of the year so far. Elephant Stone were formed in 2009 by sitarist/bassist Rishi Dhir following the break-up of the highly rated High Dials. As one of the most sought out sitar players in the Psychedelic music scene, he has recorded and toured with The Black Angels, Brian Jonestown Massacre, The Horrors, The Soundtrack of Our Lives and many more. In 2009, the band released their debut album, "The Seven Seas". Brilliantly melding Rishi’s obsession with the perfect pop song and the trippiest raga, "The Seven Seas", was warmly embraced by the global Indie/Psych scene and short-listed for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize. 2010 saw the release of "The Glass Box E.P.", a 5-song suite of inspired Power-Pop and Psychedelia, a supporting slot on the Brian Jonestown Massacre’s North American tour, European/UK tours with sold-out dates in London and Berlin, and festival appearances at Iceland Airwaves, Osheaga and SXSW.
Now 2013 sees them back with a stunning multi-layered album that just grows mightier with each listen. First track "Setting Sun" is a strong opener, built around an insistent guitar riff it sets the tone perfectly for what is in store. "Heavy Moon", the new single, is underpinned by squalling backwards guitar and the main tune is carried by the bass and vocals. It has the discordant feel of "154" era Wire, where they kind of make you work a bit, forcing you dig around in the layers and red-herrings of feedback to find your reward. "Masters Of War" is an uptempo rocking number, with the guitar motif riding beautifully over swelling keyboards with shades of early R.E.M. in places. Elephant Stone, although often touted as a Psychedelic band, have far more eclectic influences than the usual Sixties sounds that may originally spring to mind. Of course, Rishi's use of the sitar and more traditional Indian music adds a thoroughly unique aspect to their sound, but they also encompass British Beat bands, The Zombies, and on occasion (as their choice of band name suggests...) Brit-pop and the so called "Shoe-gazing" scene of Ride and My Bloody Valentine. Then we have "Hold Onto Yr Soul" which shows another side, where Teenage Fanclub and Big Star spring to mind. "A Silent Moment" starts off with a Brian Jonestown Massacre style atmosphere which then melds beautifully into Indian chanting and tabla. It's a mantra, it could flow for ever but with this album, the band have decided to stick to a more concise format, and each song is cut back, nothing outstays its welcome. "Looking Thru Baby Blue" is a beautiful song, with a magical chorus and great guitar riff, it's one of the highlights of the album. If it was released as a single I think it would be regarded as an equal to Edwyn Collins' "Girl Like You" as a left-field pop gem.
Rishi at The Lexington, London by Steve Worrall
Then the Sitar finally makes a welcome, starring appearance on the swirling "Sally Goes Round The Sun" but the great thing about Rishi is his versatility with the sitar. It's not all traditional Raga styles, as here he uses the instrument in a short 2 two minute blast of instrumental perfection. "Love The Sinner, Hate The Sin" was previously released as a single, and it quickly established itself as one of my tracks of 2012. A faultless piece of harmonic psych-pop bursting with melody and heart-tugging lead guitar. The swaggering "The Sea Of Your Mind" is more of a coming together of Elephant Stone's musical philosophy as you get it all in eight and a half minutes of blissful music. Here the guitars battle with the sitar and the traditional rhythms mesh with the rock drums to create a wonderful maelstrom of textures. The album closes with "The Sacred Sound" with it's slightly treated vocals and string arrangement calming things down to provide a warm and thoroughly satisfying end to a quite remarkable, uplifting record.
2013 will see the band tour the world, spreading their Psychedelified-Hindie-Rock mantra, spending most of April on a tour of the US and Canada with The Black Angels, check out the band's official Elephant Stone web-site for full details on venues and dates.
Elephant Stone is:
Rishi Dhir: Vocals, Bass & Sitar
Gabriel Lambert: Guitar & Backing Vox
Stephen Venkatarangam: Keyboards, Bass, Sitar & Backing Vox
Miles Dupire: Drums
You can read a review of the band's last London show on the Blog here. Check out more information on the band at their management company Crash Avenue or at the band's official web-site. We also play a track from the new album on the latest Episode of Retrosonic Podcast, you can listen to or download for free direct from the Retrosonic Soundcloud site.
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