An evening with Jose Gonzalez

Last night I was privileged to attend the Jose Gonzalez (pictured left) concert in Johannesburg (thanks to Karl at Just Music for the invite). Gonzalez is a fascinating musician, as mentioned here and here in my previous reviews of his South African releases. He hails from Europe, but is of Argentinian descent. He is considered a pioneer of the Nu-folk movement. His performance last night was outstanding. He performed to a small but capacity crowd at the Wits University’s Great Hall (1 000 seater). The show was intimate, and provided wonderful insight into Gonzalez’s character as a person and as a musician. Generally he comes across as very humble, slightly shy, yet when performing his assuredness and confidence shines through. He is a highly professional musician and sets very high standards for himself, as evidenced by his being bothered by the smoke machine – which made for some humorous asides. I was taken aback by the massive sound he manages to command from his classical acoustic guitar. And he held the crowd mesmerized through the subtleness of his voice. Highlights from his performance included Storm, Slow Moves, Lovestain, Remain, Crosses and his renditions of The Knife’s Heartbeats and Kylie Minogue’s Put Your Hand On Your Heart. I was a little disappointed that he did not perform his version of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart. Gonzalez was joined on stage by Yukimi Nagona on backing vocals and Eric Bodin on percussion.

Gonzalez was supported by local act Harris Tweed (on MySpace) (read my review of their debut here), and without being too precocious I believe they may have stolen some of Gonzalez’s thunder. The core duo of Harris Tweed, Cherilyn MacNeil and Darryl Torr, entertained the audience with an amazingly intimate set. This group is highly talented and, really, I can not sing their praises enough. The band leave shortly to perform at the South By South West music conference in Austin Texas and I wish them the best of luck as they are truly deserved of international stardom.

All in all, a wonderful evening.

Jose Gonzalez and Harris Tweed will be performing again in Cape Town on Friday 23 February at the Tafelberg Tavern Hall.

Meligrove Band not quite earth shattering

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 10 February 2007
The Meligrove Band
Planets Conspire
Planets Conspire by Canadian indie-rock band The Meligrove Band is not as grandiose as its title might suggest. This is not the most lavish production, coming at you as if through a blown speaker box. It’s gritty, raw and seams to have been recorded slightly too loud, but I think that’s a sound the band were seeking in their recordings. As an effect it’s not novel and might grate the listener after a few repeats. The songs however are craftily composed, and delivered with enough fervent enthusiasm. The band have included quite a bit of piano on this release, apparently unlike on their previous work, which reminds me slightly of a sound achieved on Radiohead’s OK Computer. I particularly enjoy the tongue-in-cheek title of the opener, Isle of Yew, which might shed some light on the band’s idiosyncrasy. Idiosyncratic they might be, but earth shattering they are not.

Black Strobe remix selection

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 10 February 2007
Black Strobe
A Remix Selection
A Remix Selection is a compilation of electro-funk / techno / EBM Parisian duo Black Strobe’s best (according to who I’m not sure) remixes of other artists’ music. There is a definite gothic element to what Black Strobe does. The remixes included on this release highlight their work on Depeche Mode material, as well as work by Rammstein and Dominatrix among others. For dance enthusiasts with a penchant for something a little darker, this might go down well. Picture scenes from the first Blade movie with vampires dancing in dark underground night clubs to hard techno and you’ll have an idea of what Black Strobe is up to. It’s not unusual to hear Rammstein in this new guise as their hard, driving industrial bent lends well to dance music, but the new Bloc Party and Depeche Mode renditions might take some time to get used to.

Yourcodenameis:milo is not dead

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 3 February 2007
Yourcodenameis:milo
Print Is Dead – Volume 1
Yourcodenameis:milo is a British band who dabble in the post-hardcore scene. The band have released one album, Ignoto, which received a certain amount of acclaim in 2005. Print is Dead is not an actual album release for this five piece, but rather a side project. It is a collaborative effort. The project, initiated by Yourcodenameis:milo, allowed one day to write and record one song with a different artist per song. The collaborations are mostly with artists not well known to South Africans, the most popular of which being Gordon Moakes of Bloc Party and Lukas Wooller of Maximo Park. Collaborations rarely tend to bring out the best in artists who mostly reserve the best of their work for their own releases, and on top of which Yourcodenameis:milo self-imposed a very tight deadline which finds the result of this effort lacking in depth. Though it is creative in its spontaneity, there is not enough here to warrant going into raptures over.

Honey from the mouth of an Angel

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 3 February 2007
Amy Millan
Honey from the Tombs
Amy Millan, the sultry voice behind indie pop-rock group Stars and a member of the Broken Social Scene, hails from Canada. Honey from the Tombs is her debut solo effort. The album is composed of material written prior to her finding popularity with the two aforementioned groups and provides interesting insight into Millan’s musical roots. Honey from the Tomb’s dreamily floats somewhere between country, pop and light acoustic rock, quite different from her previous work. An excellent ensemble of musicians backs the songstress in a mostly unplugged affair. Millan’s compositions on this release would not necessarily stand out as classics in any specific genre, but the melancholy in her vocal delivery carries through an essence that convinces the listener that Millan has earnestly experienced heartache and loneliness. The odd thing about this album is that though there are no prominent highlight tracks, long after the album has ended a haunting quality in Millan’s vocals lingers, imploring another listen.

Acoustic Ladyland eschew skinny grin

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 27 January 2007
Acoustic Ladyland
Skinny Grin
Acoustic Ladyland are a London based avant-garde jazz band. Skinny Grin is the group’s third release and follows the acclaimed Last Chance Disco, which won Acoustic Ladyland the 2005 BBC Jazz award for best group. Having never heard the group before, I find their music interesting. Skinny Grin is creative, at points sounding traditionally jazzy, full of intricate time signatures, yet at others attempting to turn the jazz world upside down in much the same way jazz great Herbie Hancock did embracing funk and synthesisers in the early seventies. There are jazz passages, interrupted by distorted guitar, punk-rock type interludes. Most of the compositions are instrumental, predominantly led by saxophone, but there are certain tracks complimented by vocals. The vocals are in no way traditional jazz vocals and add an element of ska-punk to the band’s sound. It is important to note that this release is very progressive alternative and might not suit all jazz tastes, but rather those looking for something truly avant-garde.

Fetish remains

Originally published by the Saturday Star, 20 January 2007
Fetish
Remains
South Africa underwent a revolution in alternative rock culture throughout the ’90s. Bands such as the Springbok Nude Girls, Just Jinger and Boo! experienced unprecedented popularity, and though Fetish were never in the same league, they too found a ready audience for their mix of dark, goth-rock performances. After two successful album releases the band separated in 2001 amid the recording of demo tracks for their third album. Remains, released in 2006, is the official release of those reworked demos. As a collection of unreleased demos Remains works well, but as an official album it falls short. Though the material has been reworked it seems to have a muddy quality in the end product, with Michelle Breeze’s vocals coming through quite muffled. Because of this, the 16 tracks do tend to become monotonous. Scattered throughout Remains, however, there have been some outstanding musical moments captured, and for Fetish fans this should justify a purchase.