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Live Review: Palma Violets @ The Engine Shed

Swaggering on stage to the blaring sounds of ‘Invasion of the tribbles’ by that old punk rock rabble Hot Nasties, Palma Violets are met by a crowd enthused with the energy of some sort of coke driven euphoria. And following the warm up heckles of merch guy, crowd worker and all round nutter – Harry Violent, the band blast right into a brilliant set of gritty, dirty, old school punk rock.

Guitars explode, drums rattle and the crowd loses it (including myself and my posse). It’s unusual to see a mosh pit at an indie band, but when it happens it’s a beautiful thing.

Palma Violets were so mental on stage we couldn't get a good shot!

Palma Violets were so mental on stage we couldn’t get a good shot!

Front man Chilli staggers around the stage like a man possessed, accompanied by lead guitarist and fellow vocalist, Sam Fryer who stands with shades donned, cool and comprised, breaking calm now and then to go crazy with Chilli for a bit before he has to return to the mic. Theres a great synergy between the two lads on stage and the crowd seemed to really go for it.

In fact, the band was so mobile it was virtually impossible for us to get a good picture of them doing their thing.

Chilli and Harry Violent hug after the encore, how sweet.

Chilli and Harry Violent hug after the encore, how sweet.

‘Best of Friends’ was the best song of the night by far. Explosive energy, bellowing vocals and all round low-fi grit left me feeling like I was in some dirty, back alley punk club in the late 70’s (In a really good way of course). A personal highlight for me would have to be screaming the chorus for the song along with Harry Violent in the midst of the mosh pit, skinny-jeaned teens flailing all around us like a Topman-tornado.

 

 

 

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Review – Bonobo “Late Night Tales”

Brighton based musician and Producer Simon “Bonobo” Green released his Late Night Tales compilation this week, and the results are superb.

Bonobo live on stage

Bonobo on stage in Phildelphia.

‘Late Night Tales’ is more or less exactly what the name says. Artists are invited to produce a compilation of songs best suited for the end of the evening, and the results are mixed and released, with an added spoken word story on the end. The series boasts an impressive collection, with other compilations produced by the likes of Metronomy, MGMT, Fatboy Slim, Four Tet and Jamiroquai.

In this case, Bonobo’s multi-genre down tempo offering certainly ticks all these boxes. An eclectic mix of relaxing songs from recent times to over 30 years ago, the album flows perfectly, and is the ideal way to wind a night down. Featuring tracks from Nina Simone, Shlomo, Lapalux and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, it gives insight into Bonobo’s own influences, giving context to the jazzy presence on all of his releases.

The compilation ends with Benedict Cumberbatch reading the third part of the “Flat of Angles”, a bleak but beautifully written love story by Simon Cleary. It’s difficult to explain, but this series is truly something unique as far as my experience goes, and ending with spoken word from talent such as Cumberbatch, Brian Blessed and Sir Patrick Moore truly sets it apart.

All in all, this compilation is one of the best releases I’ve heard in the last six months, and has put me onto a series I’m sure to follow closely. It definitely deserves a listen (check it out in our spotify tab), earning a 9/10 from me.

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Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins pleads guilty of child sex offences

Ian Watkins, front man and lead singer of welsh rock band Lostprophets pleaded guilty in court to a series of allegations of child offences, Including the plot to rape a baby.

The 36 year old from Pontypridd stood on trial with two other women at Cardiff crown court.

Watkins has ben described as a committed and determined pedophile

Watkins has ben described as a committed and determined pedophile

Watkins pleaded guilty to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a 13 year old girl, but did not plead guilty to rape.

He also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.

Watkins was described by the court as a ‘determined and committed’ pedophile who was planning to teach children and babies how to use drugs.

Meth, Coke and GHB we’re found in Watkin’s property during police searches and drugs have been described as playing an integral part in his offending against children.

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A second profession

Me not working hard?
Yeah, right! Picture that with a Kodak
Or, better yet, go to Times Square
Take a picture of me with a Kodak
Took my life from negative to positive

– Pitbull

A recent edition of the Sunday Times Magazine featured a series of photographs of war veterans taken by Canadian rocker Bryan Adams. As a life-long anti-war activist he has written several songs about war and in November he published a photographic book, Wounded – The Legacy of War to highlight the human cost of armed conflicts.

Visitor viewing photographs of wounded veterans taken by Bryan Adams.

Visitor viewing photographs of wounded veterans taken by Bryan Adams.

Adams is one of many musicians cultivating a second career in photography. It is seemingly the second profession of choice for them. Music and photography often go together. Photos are essential in establishing and reinforcing the character and image of a band or artist, even if TV and the internet has taken over parts of that role. At concerts, the people who are closest in front of the stage are usually a group of photographers. Musicians paint pictures with words and sounds, photographers paint with light.

American musician Moby, famous for his electronic music, is an established photographer with exhibitions in several different countries in Europe as well as the US under his belt. In 2011 he released an album and a book of photographs both titled Destroyed.

Adams has done a lot of fashion photography and has been published in magazines like Vouge and Esquire.

Grand old lady of punk, Patti Smith, has also indulged herself in photography, resulting in her first large exhibition in 2011 called Camera Solo, currently working its way across the galleries of the world.

Former guitarist of The Police, Andy Summers, has toured far and wide with his photo exhibition I’ll Be Watching You: Inside The Police, 1980-83, documenting the bands tour around the globe between 1980 and 1980. The collection of more than 600 photographs records the band on stage, partying, taking drugs, fans, and the people and places they encountered on their journey.

Fans of The Police, captured by the band’s guitarist Andy Summers.

Moby’s photostream on Flickr

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The music of the Doctor

This November the iconic BBC show Doctor Who celebrates 50 years on the air. As the longest running science fiction show on the planet, with 77 million viewers worldwide, it has become an instantly recognizable part of the cultural history of Britain. The anniversary special episode was broadcasted simultaniously in 94 countries across six continents.

A key element in the success of Doctor Who, is the distinctive style of sounds and music. From the first theme, creepy and alien, composed by Ron Grainer and Delia Derbyshire, to the more up beat version of the current series, it has always heralded the coming of epic adventures in time and space for millions of viewers.

 

50 years of Doctor Who!

Music from the show has become merchandise in it self. In 1983, the BBC released a full-length album with music and sound, titled Doctor Who: The Music. Music from the show has been featured at the Proms in Royal Albert Hall and a concert called Doctor Who Symphonic Spectacular has been performed in New Zealand.

When the first episodes of the show was in production in 1963, a whole set of new sounds and music had to be created. The sound engineers at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop experimented freely and the results have had a enduring legacy.

Brian Hodgson, a former BBC sound engineer who worked on the original series of Doctor who, recently told BBC Radio Norfolk some of the secrets behind many of the iconic sounds from the show. He said the sound of the Tardis, the blue police box shaped combined time machine and space craft, was made by scraping his mothers keys against the strings in a old Sunday school piano.

Hodgson also told BBC how he had constructed the voice of the Daleks together with Peter Hawkins by shortening the length of the vowels to create the staccato voice. ‘EX-TER-MIN-ATE!’

 

VIDEO: Original Doctor Who theme (1963 – 1969)