Review: Little Stella – S/T

Little Stella – S/T (Independent)

Ottawa based Little Stella is Ryan, Zach, Jeff and James and they list their influences as the Jonas Brothers and Slayer. A lesser reviewer might have run away and hid, but fortunately I saw straight through their cunning ruse and went directly to the ‘play’ button. Their second (self-titled) EP (five tracks / 16 minutes) places them securely in the same firmament as Fleet Foxes, Mumfords and many others in the new alt-folk movement. Obviously they’re operating in a popular genre, but the group appreciate to stand out they’ve to be leaders rather than followers, and they do everything they can to carve their own quite separate niche. This they do through strong, distinctive songwriting, and there are a number of occasions on the EP where they sound more than capable of succeeding.

First of all “Woods” provides an inspired launch. Guitars and vocals combine beautifully and the song’s structure and arrangement is fully realized. It’s followed by “Bluff”, a pristine three-minute folk-pop song; the sort of thing that should be blasting out of a radio five times a day. “Cold War” burrows in just as deep and “Highwire” indicates a willingness to rock. All in all, a filler-free EP - try and hear it if you can.

www.facebook.com/littlestellaband

www.littlestella.bandcamp.com

Tony S.

Lamb of God singer Randy Blythe charged over fan death

Randy Blythe, the frontman of US metal band Lamb of God, has been charged over the death of a fan at a concert in Prague in 2010.

The singer is accused of pushing the fan off stage during the show in the Czech Republic. The fan hit his head when he fell to the concrete floor and died of his injuries 14 days later.

Blythe was charged with causing bodily harm resulting in death on Friday.

Lamb of God's manager said Blythe will "fight vigorously" against the charges.

The court in Prague has three months to set a trial date or return the case to prosecutors for further investigation.

The 41-year-old singer faces five to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Blythe has previously said that he intends to go to Prague to defend himself at a trial.

In the statement reported by metal website The PRP, the band's manager Larry Mazer said: "While it is a tragedy that a Lamb of God fan died following a performance by the group, in no way do I feel that Randy did anything improper that led to the young man's injuries and subsequent death."

He continued: "The price of a ticket to a show does not entitle audience members access to a band's stage."

Mazer said he felt Blythe had "responded professionally" to numerous fans rushing the stage.

"We have testimony from the venue operator that acknowledges lax security and an improper barricade being used that evening," he added.

Following the incident, Blythe spent five weeks in the custody of Czech authorities before being released on bail in August. He has been in the US since then.

He was arrested when the band flew into Prague to play a gig, apparently unaware that there was an outstanding warrant for the singer's arrest.

Virginia-based Lamb of God, who received Grammy nominations in 2007 and 2011, played at the Download festival at Donington Park in the UK in June.

Source: BBC

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Review: Mike Wheeler - Self Made Man

Mike Wheeler - Self Made Man (Delmark)

Like many artists presented by the ever-reliable Delmark imprint, Mike Wheeler is no new-comer, his thirty-year history on Chicago’s blues scene having taken in stints with local luminaries Cadillac Dave & the Red Hots, Big Ray & Chicago’s Most Wanted, and more besides. So whilst he may be billed as one of the hottest new names around, his capabilities have been finely honed in the white hot environment of the city’s club circuit for half a performing lifetime, and appear fully-formed on this, his first release proper.

Surrounded by stellar side-men, including his one-time band leader and blue-chip keyboardist Big James, and hotly-tipped harp player Omar Coleman, there’s an air of confident professional maturity that ignites these thirteen songs, twelve of them new and written by the band. It’s Wheeler himself that steals the show though. He’s in possession of a classic soul voice that would be the envy of many, and his fluid enterprising guitar playing shows why his solo career may have been arrested by sheer weight of offers to help out elsewhere.

The overall effect, probably best evidenced by the mid-point trilogy of ‘You’re Doing Wrong’, ‘Walkin’ Out The Door’ and ‘Get Your Mind Right’ , will appeal greatly to those Robert Cray fans who would see him rough off the edges and toughen up his playing; in other words: play the blues. ‘Moving Forward’ on the other hand is a stunning showstopper which recalls no-one else and identifies Wheeler the guitar man particularly as having the potential to be a uniquely creative talent on his own terms.

www.delmark.com

www.mikewheelerband.com

Neil B.

Review: Wiltshire – Long Gone

Wiltshire – Long Gone (Independent)

William Wiltshire’s debut offering is a seven-track mini-album that leans heavily on the Americana tradition, but possesses a voice all its own. The Florida native tackles issues normally considered beyond the realm of mainstream singer-songwriters, primarily old-time religion, death and desertion, and does so in a fashion that will appeal to devotees and atheists alike. Whilst his subjects and themes are often dark and oblique, his wordplay is equally unconventional, and its artists like Tom Waits, Johnny Cash and Leonard Cohen that most readily come to mind. That’s good company to keep, and there’s surely a fan base waiting for Wiltshire amongst those who rush out to buy new Will Oldham and Bill Callahan records.

“Long Gone” begins in a particularly plainspoken manner; “Promise to the Devil” is swampy and direct in its message. The looping slide guitar adds a bluesy sincerity, a genuineness that sweeps aside the inherent betrayal, and “Killed a Man” is a simple story of manslaughter that evolves into something else altogether. It’s not all murder and maelstroms; “Song for a Girl” is a heartfelt paean to the one he loves, and although they’re sentiments that aren’t commonly expressed on “Long Gone”, here he’s open and forthright, without sacrificing his lyrical subtleties one iota.

www.williamwiltshire.com

www.facebook.com/wiltshiremusic

Tony S.

Bad Sex award for Canadian author

The Literary Review's annual Bad Sex in Fiction award has been won by Canadian author Nancy Huston for her 14th work of fiction, Infrared.

It tells the story of a photographer who specialises in taking infrared snaps of her lovers during sex.

She beat the likes of Tom Wolfe who won the dubious accolade eight years ago.

Huston, who becomes only the third woman to win the award, writes primarily in French and translates her books into English.

Sentences from her novel such as: "Kamal and I are totally immersed in flesh, that archaic kingdom that brings forth tears and terrors, nightmares, babies and bedazzlements," caught the judges' attention.

Huston, whose other books include Fault Lines and Plainsong, lives in Paris and was unable to attend the prize ceremony at the In and Out Naval and Military Club in London.

In a statement, she said: "I hope this prize will incite thousands of British women to take close-up photos of their lovers' bodies in all states of array and disarray."

Her publisher accepted the prize on her behalf.

The ceremony is now in its 20th year, having been established by Auberon Waugh in 1993.

The award is run by The Literary Review, which says its purpose is to "draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it".

Previous winners include Norman Mailer, AA Gill and Melvyn Bragg and David Guterson.

Source: BBC

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Rob da Bank's Bestival wins best major festival award

Bestival has won the top prize at this year's Festival Awards.

The annual event, held on the Isle of Wight and organised by Radio 1's Rob da Bank, was voted best major festival.

On Twitter, the DJ said: "A 1000 thanks to all who voted for @bestival to win Major UK festi. we did it! sadly i was lying in bed ill but yes!"

Festival No. 6, launched this year in Portmeirion, won three prizes including best new festival, headline performance of the year and promoter of the year.

'Turbulent times'

Bestival won the best major festival award in 2010 with Glastonbury taking the title last year.

Despite being nominated for five awards, Radio 1's Hackney Weekend didn't win anything.

Steve Jenner, Festival Awards co-founder, said: "It is pleasing to see so many first-time category winners breaking through this year and indicative of the dynamic movements in the market at this time.

"Much more than winning gongs, though, the Festival Awards are about celebrating and uniting the UK festival industry which, in these turbulent times, is more vital than ever."

Other winners at the London ceremony included Download (Line-up), Latitude (Family) and Green Man (Grass roots).

Cambridge's Lodestar festival won the honour of having the best toilets.

Django Django's Default was voted anthem of the summer and Jake Bugg was the breakthrough act.

Live Nation's chief operating officer, John Probyn, also picked up a lifetime achievement award.

The Festival Awards 2012 in full:

Best major festival: Bestival

Best medium-sized festival: Bloodstock Open Air Festival

Best small festival: Y Not Festival

Best new festival: Festival No.6

Best dance event: GlobalGathering

Best metropolitan festival: Camden Crawl

Best line-up: Download

Best family festival: Latitude

The grass roots festival award: Green Man

Best toilets: Lodestar

Best overseas festival: Benicassim (Spain)

Agency of the year: William Morris

Promoter of the year: Gareth Cooper (Festival No. 6, Beach Break, Lollibop)

Headline performance of the year: New Order at Festival No. 6

Best breakthrough act: Jake Bugg

Anthem of the summer: Django Django's Default

The extra-festival activity award: Live From Jodrell Bank

Concession of the year: Paelleria

The greener festival award: Croissant Neuf Summer Party

Lifetime achievement award: John Probyn

Source: BBC

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Review: Bex Marshall - The House of Mercy

Bex Marshall - The House of Mercy (Independent)

You’ll go far to find a more consummate compendium of all things Americana than this impressive second release from Devonshire-born Bex Marshall. Veering towards a countrified blues the album pulls in a vast range of other styles including bluegrass, ragtime, swampy grooves and, courtesy of vocal support from Shola Adegoraye, more than a little gospel.

Marshall herself has a rich soulful voice that competes with her stylish guitar playing for centre stage, the latter showcased to best effect on the gently engaging instrumental ‘Big Man’. The impressive supporting cast of BJ Cole (Dobro), Eileen Healy (fiddle), Steve Lockwood (harmonica) and members of the Reno Brothers and Hayseed Dixie join bassist Barry Payne and percussionist Danny Bryan to add considerable depth to the eleven self-penned originals. Ten of these are of the highest standard, full of gutsy stories and wry humour, and the only quibble comes in the form of ‘Barry’s Song’, a queasy personal homage to her husband – sincerely meant no doubt, and hopefully appreciated by its subject, but its intimate lyrics don’t make comfortable listening for us onlookers.

www.bexmarshall.co.uk

Neil B.

Turner Prize: Video artist Elizabeth Price wins

Video artist Elizabeth Price has won the Turner Prize, one of the art world's most prestigious and controversial awards.

Yorkshire-born Price uses archival images, text and music to create works exploring the human relationship to objects and consumer culture.

She secured the £25,000 prize for her video installation, The Woolworths Choir of 1979, 2012.

The actor Jude law presented Price with the award at Tate Britain in London.

The prestigious prize is awarded to a British artist under the age of 50 who is judged to have put on the best exhibition of the last 12 months.

The other nominees were performance artist Spartacus Chetwynd, video artist Luke Fowler and Paul Noble, a visual artist.

Price is the least well known of the four artists and admitted she was "surprised" to win.

During her acceptance speech she praised her comprehensive school education, saying her career would be "unimaginable" without public support for the arts.

Thanking the Tate, she also commended the other shortlisted artists for their "respect, camaraderie and a sense of the absurd".

According to the Baltic Gallery in Gateshead, where Price exhibited earlier this year, she "draws upon historical film, photographic archives and collections of artefacts to generate fantasy episodes".

At the exhibition of the nominees' works at Tate Britain, Price combined old music, photographs, video footage and text to depict a tragic fire at a branch of Woolworth's in Manchester in 1979, in which 10 people died.

"When I started making the work, I didn't know it would end up being about that subject. I believe art should be dealing with these subjects and I think art is a way to remember them," said Price.

The judges said they admired the "seductive and immersive" aspects of her 20-minute film, which they said "reflects the ambition that has characterised her work in recent years".

Her use of various archival material created a "rhythmic and ritualistic experience", they said.

Born in Bradford in 1966, Price received a Bachelors degree in Fine Art from Oxford University before attending the Royal College of Art where she obtained an MA in Fine Art in 1991.

She also has a PhD in Fine Art from the University of Leeds.

The annual ceremony and exhibition of the nominees' work returned to Tate Britain this year having taken place at the Baltic Gallery in 2011 - the first time the ceremony was held outside a Tate venue.

In the future, the prize will be held in a different city around the UK every second year, returning to London each year in between. It will be held in Londonderry in 2013.

Previous recipients of the prize, first awarded in 1984, include Antony Gormley, Damien Hirst, Steve McQueen and Grayson Perry.

Last year's prize was awarded to sculptor Martin Boyce.

Source: BBC

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LS Lowry house The Elms given listed building status

A house in Greater Manchester where the artist L S Lowry spent the last 28 years of his life has been granted listed building status.

The Elms, a private house in Mottram-in-Longdendale, has been awarded Grade II status.

Lowry, who died in 1976 aged 85, used the dining room of the semi-detached property as his studio.

It is the second of Lowry's residences to be listed, his house in Swinton was listed in 1981.

'Ordinary life'

The Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) said the house was "identified as possessing significant architectural and historical interest".

Nick Bridgland, of English Heritage, said: "Lowry's work is closely associated with ordinary life in the north of England and his house, traditional and modest, echoes the subject matter of his work.

"We recommended the house for listing as it was his home and working environment for 28 years."

Some biographers state that the artist found the house "ugly and uncomfortable".

Stretford-born Lowry worked full-time for his whole life as a clerk and continued to be chief cashier at the Pall Mall Property Company in Manchester, even when he was one of the most popular painters in Britain.

He studied painting part-time in evening classes, and later only painted at night after work.

The artist worked on his paintings steadily for many years and only achieved success when he was in his 60s.

Source: BBC

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Review: Self-Evident – We Built a Fortress on Short Notice

Self-Evident – We Built a Fortress on Short Notice (DoublePlusGood Records)

The sixth LP from Minneapolis trio, Self-Evident combines hardcore, post-grunge, post-rock and some rather complex math rock equations with melodic sensibility.

Conrad Mach’s vocals - searching for truth - are delivered in immediate and intense fashion and theirs is a tightly fitting singular sound. Being interesting, intelligent and angular is the name of the game and although heavy in tone “We Built a Fortress on Short Notice” leans more generally towards a kind of pared down heavy progressive rock rather than dissonant punk, and results in a total that is more than the sum of its parts.

www.doubleplusgoodrecords.com

www.self-evident.net

Willsk