Air Cav @ Manchester Roadhouse Review for Audioscribbler

Was delighted the other week when after putting up a review of Air Cav's single Alliance I received an email from the violinist of the band thanking me for the kind words! Well after that I had no choice but to go down and see them play at the Roadhouse last Friday...I meant to introduce myself but it was pleasingly busy and me being a shy, retiring type an all sadly lacked the confidence to do such a thing..big regrets! Never mind though because they put on a quite wonderful live show; to read just how wonderful simply read below:

Review

Air Cav: Roadhouse, Manchester Type: Live Date: 22/02/08 Your Rating: Unrated Add a comment to your rating

Simon Jay Catling

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The alternative music scene in Manchester often gives the impression of being a bit of a proverbial sleeping giant. Whilst in recent years music from Sheffield and Leeds has been making headlines, Manchester has been allowed to drift into the background- always acknowledged as being there, but never really focused on. With one or two exceptions, Nine Black Alps spring to mind, many of their bands seem in a similar mindset. Polytechnic and The Nightjars play at the same venue as tonight’s gig on Thursday; both were big tips for a breakthrough as far back as 2005 and both seemingly have made little headway. Yet, as goes the question with all sleeping giants, are they really struggling to breakthrough or are they merely biding their time? This is a question that goes through my mind upon watching another Mancunian band, Air Cav, who are celebrating their first record deal tonight.

The four-piece have been making waves around this city for around two years now, without anyone outside the North West really taking much notice. However, tonight proves they clearly know what they’re doing; you can tell it from the fact that the Roadhouse is over three quarters full, and you can tell it from the fact that Air Cav’s set tonight is tight, concise and most importantly loaded with great songs. Anticipation in the crowd is high so that even fellow up and coming act Lead Balloons are offered only the most cursory of applause during their solid support slot. Air Cav stumble onto the stage, clearly having been celebrating hard throughout the support, and almost shyly launch into set opener A Call To Arms; and in those opening few guitar lines the band instantly change from reluctant, withdrawn individuals into a confident, collective, dominant force. A Call To Arms has been knocking about since they began but it is testament to its enduring nature that the band still use it to open their set; its cacophony of guitar and violin hints at a sense of melancholy underneath the soaring spirit of the song, which is driven with simple yet effective drumming. Branches, taken from their recent single, follows next with a definite nod towards the Arcade Fire in it’s wailing, full frontal introduction before settling into something fluent and hazy thanks to Sophie Parkes violin.

What makes Air Cav such a joy to watch is the enjoyment they have of being on stage; how it transforms them and radiates out to those watching them. When future single Embers malfunctions, the band merely laugh and happily advertise their current releases, before striking back up again. Meanwhile, telling glances throughout the set show that, yes they’re performing exactly how they want to and yes, they really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Where they really excel however is in providing what seems initially like a wall of sound, before allowing themselves to carefully pick out and remove bricks from within the wall; this gives them a range as poised and beautiful as it is powerful and full on.

Perhaps the best example of this comes in the form of current single Alliance, which jumps and bounces along with a frantic energy before being let out of its shackles and allowed to drift and meander around the venue, before being dragged back and fitted together again for a rousing finish. Furthermore, they do so in such a way as to fit all of their ideas and sprawling expanses into less than five minutes at a time, giving each of their songs a very anthemic feel. This is surely due to two years of hard toil around their native Manchester instead of swapping the practise room for lengthy tours in toilet-venues. The only sad thing is that a curfew puts a 45 minute restriction on a set which many would loved to have gone on much longer, and as final anthem So Others May Live there’s a genuine disappointment that the night has to come to an end.

So tonight is certainly evidence that Manchester is still alive and well and doing just fine thank you very much. The aforementioned Polytechnic and The Nightjars both released excellent albums last year, as did Nine Black Alps. This year the likes of Fear Of Music, The Ting Tings and Twisted Wheel are all expected to release debut offerings; and of course there are the dubious talents of The Courteneers. However, on tonight’s performance Air Cav may just be the best of the bunch, and one hopes that they can build on the strong fan base they now have in their hometown and start to reach out nationwide.

http://www.myspace.com/aircavmusic

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Jarock's Weekly Podcast 2 (27th February)

TRACKLISTING

1. Dananananaykroyd- The Greater Than Symbol
Myspace
2. Clockwork- Glow (Myspace Of The Week)
Myspace
3. Jacob Golden- Out Come The Wolves
Site
4. Les Savy Fav- Patty Lee (Single Of The Week)
Site
5. Sons & Daughters- Split Lips
Site
6. Polytechnic- Won't You Come Around (Upcoming Event Of The Week)
Myspace
7. The Boggs- Arm In Arm
Myspace
8. Puressence- This Feeling (Lost Classics)
Site
9. Transformer- Cinema Car (Caged Baby Remix)
Myspace
10. AmpLive- 15 Stepz (ft. Codinay Holiday)
Myspace

The Angry Teenager 2 @ Audioscribbler

Editorial The Angry Teenager #2

Well give me my My Chemical Romance CDs and allow me to feel more angst and pain than you EVER could, I truly am the angriest teenager on the planet. I’m here to ruin your income tax by applying for higher education only to drop out midway through first year after being disappointed to find the student Union doesn’t sell pints for under £2. Read your bills and weep working class..

Date: 26/02/08

Last week was annual backslap-athon, the Mastercard sponsored Brit Awards, ( I saw Amy Winehouse chopping something up with a Mastercard although I may have been mistaken.) A whole platitude of things irk me about the Brits, maybe its that all the winners come from their own (questionable) talent school or maybe it’s the fact that all those Mika CD’s that were sold in order to make him ‘Best British Breakthrough Act’ could have been used, in the right hands, to slice his yowling, banshee-like self up into more pieces than my derisory state school education taught me to count up to, (that’d be eight incidentally.) With this in mind I thought I’d write a little top five of things that plain pissed me off about the Brits. Enjoy!..or don’t, it’s up to you really:

5. Take That winning Best Live Act

A personal gripe this one what with my beloved ‘look we’re an alternative band but we sold out Wembley Stadium twice which hang on makes us not very alternative at all..actually’ Muse barely being even mentioned in this category, defeated as they were by a “boy”band currently sitting in their mid to late 30s and possessing a lead vocalist in Gary Barlow who looks like he’s carrying about 30lbs too much. It’s widely acknowledged that the only fat people in memory to make a successful live show are Meatloaf and Solomon Burke. Fact.

4. Fearne Cotton

Just in general really; presenting Top Of The Tops as it laboured around like a dying fox waiting to be put out of it’s misery by a group of angry hounds (oh sorry they don’t allow that anymore do they, although I see little evidence of change) does not make you a worthy spokesperson on music; be it sensationalised tripe or otherwise. At one point I thought she had her head so far up Mark Ronson’s arse that she might suffocate and reach an untimely end. Sadly seconds later out she popped, yet more unbelievably still sporting that ‘made on Children’s TV’ styled sickly, patronising grin.

3. Paul McCartney winning Lifetime Achievement Award

Not so much his win, although one has to argue that his creative output since the Beatles is somewhat similar to his daily excrement output. No, what grated me was the baffling amount of people even younger than me down the front squealing away as “Macca” ,as he’s known in some sections, croaked and fumbled his way through his usual staple of hits. It could have been Mick Jagger for all they knew instead of the Beatles-milking, recently lighter of pocket ex-superstar. Do yourself a favour and let the folks more deserving of sharing in his dubious glory get down the front.

2. The Osbournes

Any explanation needed?

1. Mark Ronson

Ahh Ronson, the man who takes a track, puts a Lake Windermere sized amount of brass over the top of it like a six year old putting far, far too much chocolate sauce over his ice-cream, and calls himself a producer. We all know what happens when that’s the case dear readers- we feel queasy and have to lie down for six hours because if the mouth (or in this case) ear freeze doesn’t get us the sickly sweetness will. Not only did the famous knob twiddler manage to bag himself best British Male (what? No Lee Ryan?), he also managed to put in a what could generously be described as a ‘mediocre’ performance onstage, complete with his baffling doubled necked guitar.

Presumably the second neck was insurance to prevent his own neck from going on the block, because he sure as hell didn’t play a note on it. There’s only one place for Ronson; a place where people constantly have the horn and where old legends are regurgitated years after they were first successful- yes, maybe Mark with sleazy good looks and constant fixed smile should make a name for himself in the adult film industry. To cap it all he’s also a massive penis. Match made in heaven.

Until next week readers when we find out what happened when Johnny Borrell stuck out his tongue to the Doge of Venice, whether Gareth Campesinos really can spell ‘hahahaha I destroyed the hope and dreams of a generation of faux-romantics’ and what kind of fabric softener Mika uses. Good day!

Words: The Angry Teenager

Podcasts and Press Releases

Just a couple of bits and bobs to explain here:
Somewhat amusingly my Podcast is now on iTunes so you can go on there to subscribe to it if you so wish, they must allow any old tat on there. Just have a look for Jarock on the iTunes store search engine, I'm sure there's a site URL but I'm not sure what it is to be honest! You can also go the old skool way and hit this Switchpod link and subscribe from there...again, if you so wish...Apparently people have been downloading it rather scarily, so for those 22 that have thank you very much! And spread the word, hopefully it'll get better.

Just to remind y'all as well the podcast's getting updated every Wednesday whilst all my corridor are out having a jolly good time at the AU social in M2 (a terrible, terrible night) and I'm stuck on my todd.

Other things: There's a comments thing on each of my articles on here so it would appear, so leave me some comments and feedback here why don't you, it'll be lovely to read for sure it will.

I'm not posting up press releases anymore because I'm doing them about 3 times a day, if you'd like to see 'em just go to God Is In The TV and have a look at the latest news. That'll be me.

'Los Campesinos!- Hold On Now, Youngster' God Is In The TV Review

I reckon I've written about 1500 words on Los Campesinos! this week and probably listened to them about as many times. Good as they are I think I might be directing my ears elsewhere next week. Anyway, was kindly asked to write the review for their album (out on Monday), and as I enjoy them, I did. 4/5 possibly a bit generous, so between you and me if it was out of 10 I'd give it 7.

Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now, Youngster (Wichita)
Simon Jay Catling

Now that all the New Year hype and bluster is out of the way, 2008 is finally starting to unfold and reveal which of those acts lauded at the beginning of the year are truly going to live up to their potential. Among those first out of the blocks was female talent Adele; with the likes of These New Puritans and Sons & Daughters following suit. With Duffy’s album also out imminently and Foals anticipated offering due out in March, the race to best the rest is truly on; and so arriving in another storm of media plaudits and fresh radio airplay come plucky underdogs, Cardiff seven-piece Los Campesinos! Starting out initially as a three piece back in 2006, Los Campesinos! have expanded both in personnel and in sound since their first gig back in May of that year. Many of the songs compiled on this album have been drifting around since those early days, both on their demo- also named Hold On Now, Youngster, and on last year’s promising EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets. The band rely largely on the vocal chemistry that lies between Gareth and Aleksandra Campesinos, whilst the rest of the band rattle on in the background mixing the ramshackle energy of the likes of the Arcade Fire with some shorter, punkier pop sensibilities. It’s hard to explain how one can feel exhausted whilst listening to an album but if ever a description fitted the opening five tracks of Hold On Now, Youngster.. then it can only be described as thus. Recent single Death To Los Campesinos! opens up with a lonely guitar that’s quickly submerged with more, driving guitars and bass, whilst a singular glockenspiel patters away over the top, echoing the contrast between Gareth’s passionate strangled cries and Aleksandra’s laidback, poised vocal delivery. As pop songs go it’s catchy as hell and likely to attract the ears of early pubescents just as much as it will people many years they’re elders. There’s no respite as a shouted ‘1,2,3,4’ intro leads us straight into the frantic 'Broken Hearts Sound Like Breakbeats', as Gareth laments of being ‘the beacon of hate that you’d always expected’. It’s as though Aleksandra is trying to calm the excitable male singer down in this and throughout the album; indeed we don’t get a respite until sixth track 'Knee Deep At ATP', where the band finally decide to take a rest and allow the bass and a delightful meandering violin take control and allow the listener to get their breath back, before a slow build up leads to an anthemic chorus. It could be argued that this is the end of part one. “Part two” begins with live favourite ‘This Is How You Spell “Hahaha, We Destroyed The Hopes and Dreams Of A Generation Of Faux-Romantics” which brings with it a slightly more measured tone before throttling head first once again into a irresistibly catchy chorus. One argument that can be levelled against the septet is that the overload of energy can at times make Hold On, Youngster.. rude towards the listener. The production doesn’t always help either, with all the guitars seemingly turned up to full volume so as to lose some of the more subtle elements of the band in its onrushing presence. Likewise, on songs where Gareth dominates the vocals one loses Aleksandra’s more docile, easy on the ear lyrics. There can be no criticism that Los Campesinos! don’t possess boundless energy, it’s just that at times it needs to be reigned in a little to stop the album becoming one big blur as can easily be the case upon first listen. When they manage to get it just right, the results are wonderful; ‘Sweet Dreams, Sweet Cheeks’ manages to provide both a wonderfully controlled yet infectious mid section, where the bass and violin once again take prominence, before erupting into an outro ever so slightly reminiscent of ‘Wake Up’ by Arcade Fire. Final track ‘2007, The Year Broke (My Heart)’ repeats the trick with a composed offering that is quite at odds with most of what has gone on before. So; a certifiable success? The answer would have to be yes as Los Campesinos! possess both the straight ahead pop punk appeal to entice a younger generation and an underlying subtlety that conveys influences far wider than at first meets the eye- names like Architecture Of Helsinki, Pavement and Broken Social Scene are often thrown around upon describing this band and the album does little to dissuade those comparisons. The main criticism of this album has to be that relentless layers of noise coupled with an occasionally muddy production can at times make for an uncomfortable listen, whilst also at times the group disable a good pop song by trying to throw too many ingredients into the cauldron. However, a handy knack for an infectious hook can’t help but leave you to persevering with what can only be described as a very good debut offering; translating the energy contained on this album into the live arena should see Los Campesinos! become justifiably huge over the coming months, and with the competition surrounding them that there is this is no mean feat. The ball’s in their court. Los Campesinos! Myspace

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Los Campesinos!- Death To Los Campesinos!

Los Campesinos! @ Club Academy, Manchester 18th February Review

Yes yes, following hot on the heels of my demo review for What Would Jesus Drive? Audioscribbler pleasingly added my live review of Los Campesinos!. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical going into the gig but they really pulled it out of the bag and left me grinning from ear to ear- don't worry, a few days surgery should sort out those malfunctioning lips of mine!

Review

Los Campesinos!: Club Academy, Manchester Type: Live Date: 18/02/08 Your Rating: 1 vote Add a comment to your rating

Simon Jay Catling

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‘Outside of London I think this is the largest amount of people we’ve ever played to’ nervously babbles Gareth Campesinos to a packed out Manchester student union basement, before pausing and adding ‘but London doesn’t count ‘cos its normally shit’ to an enthusiastic response. This shows two things: that the North/South division remains as prominent as ever, and that exciting new upstarts Los Campesinos! already have the knack of pleasing a crowd down to a tee. Gareth has a sore throat tonight by the way, but you’d never think it as he commits himself fully in tonight’s performance that culminates in a rapturous sing along of 2007, The Year Punk Broke (My Heart).

The crowd down the front tonight are…young; there’s no two ways about it. I’m only just out of my teens but I swear there’s a twelve year old standing at the front, such is Los Campesinos! cutesy, pop appeal that appeases younger fans to go with their superior set of discordinate melodies that appeal to the (slightly) older generation. It’s fair to say that most of the crowd come tonight out of curiosity to see just what all the fuss is about and the seven-piece are very much mindful of this as they set about expending every last bit of energy they have on stage. Every member seems to be doing their own thing- guitarists Tom and Ollie hold centre stage bumping into each other whilst keyboardist Aleksandra and bassist Ellen call out vocally to Gareth, whose pretty much everywhere tonight. Meanwhile the violinist plays all by herself on a small corner of the stage, serenely unaware of the chaos going on behind her. It sounds like it should be shambolic, but live it makes for captivating viewing as each band member vies desperately for your attention.

New single Death to Los Campesinos! makes an early appearance on the set list and instantly sets heads bobbing and feet tapping as the crowd begin to warm to the Cardiff-based act’s calculated form of madness and irresistible power pop. The glockenspiel and violin add soft undertones to the dual guitar and driving percussion, whilst Aleksandra and Gareth’s vocals combine effortlessly to showcase a real understanding of each other and also a real contrast of beauty and poise with passion and energy. Other highlights include a pulsating version of Broken Hearts Sound Like Breakbeats and Knee Deep At The ATP, which finally gets the kids jumping about a bit. It’s comparatively older favourite We Throw Parties You Throw Knives that really gets things going though; the first time it’s been played on the tour. Teeny bopping, stage diving and even band member hugging ensue as the adolescents take over the stage in a scene that can’t fail in warming the heart. ‘That was strange’ Gareth claims afterwards in reference to the mad response it receives, ‘we weren’t going to play that any more but I think perhaps we probably should be playing it all the time’. It’s nothing more than they deserve, having had to work hard initially tonight to convince the crowd that they are ‘a good thing’. Finishing the main set with the excellent You! Me! Dancing! the band leave the stage after thanking us for making them ‘feel like a proper band.’

When you look at the current crop of breakthrough acts it really is hard to say at this point in time that you could imagine many of them still to be playing ten years from now, such is the contemporary and of-the-moment type of music they’re putting out. With Los Campesinos! however there’s every chance that they could be still there ten years from now making people grin stupidly and dance even more stupidly. One of the fundamentals in being a successful live act is to look like your genuinely enjoying being on the stage, and with Los Campesinos! there’s no doubt that this is the case. Without sinking into the realms of ‘lad rock’ they really make you feel like your one of them for over an hour and for many of us that really, really is enough.

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Los Campesinos!- We Throw Parties, You Throw Knives"

Podcast ahoy! Jarock 1 comes to town

The sharp-witted amongst you, (perhaps you Mum) will have noticed a weird looking media player thing's popped up in the middle of my blog. Well lo and behold because this evening, nursing a hangover and with little else to do aside from watch Rocky III and procastinate furiously I decided to have a jab at this whole podcasting lark. I think it's come out ok for a first attempt, I'm basically playing tunes and talking about them with handy links and the stuff involved as well. If you want to hear new music then I guess you might as well give it a gander!

Tracklisting for this week:
1. Fear Of Music- First To Go
2. Maths Class- Cushion Grammar
3. Dance Lazarus Dance- Take That Jesus (Myspace of the week)
4. Air Cav- Alliance
5. Los Campesinos!- Death To Los Campesinos! (Single of the week)
6. Stephanie Dosen- Owl In The Dark (Upcoming live event)
7. This City- Kids With Fireworks
8. Neon Neon- I Lust U
9. Longpigs- She Said (Lost Classic)
10. Gallows- Belly Of A Shark (Losers Remix)