The soundtrack includes an eclectic mix of gospel, Christian folk and bluegrass, none of which are genres I could describe myself as a fan of, yet it is difficult to dislike any genre when it’s represented as beautifully as this. The soundtrack won a Grammy in 2001 for album of the year, and I defy anyone who hears it to contest that this was not absolutely deserved! Without the music the film, loosely based on Homer’s The Odyssey, would lose a lot of its power as both a comedy and tragedy. Down to The River to Pray is an undeniably stirring track but is complemented by a total change in tone by the likes of Man of Constant Sorrow, a hit by the fictional Soggy Bottom Boys, a band made up of escaped chain-gang convicts.

Just in case you were worried I can assure you that George Clooney does not lend his own singing voice to the film, however he does reveal his hidden talent as a pretty convincing mime.

Ruth Wallbank

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@ The Lamp, Hull
12th November 08

I must confess that like a few members of the audience I happened to talk to/eavesdrop on/follow menacingly, hadn’t really heard much if anything by the tightly rehearsed and extremely tightly dressed Grammatics. I had a nosey on their MySpace prior to the gig which sadly left me with low expectations; I may be alone in this but I have a slight aversion to bands that advertise themselves on websites with the three frightening words: ‘melodramatic popular song’. That and the words ‘Beautiful Dissonance’ in their ‘sounds like:’ section and the inclusion of ‘The English language’ in their list of influences did set my pretentiousness senses a-tingling. Although I suppose claiming to have these magic senses in the first place, and using the phrase ‘a-tingling’, puts me in a difficult position to comment.

However, after 40 mins or so of The Notebook (The Lamps’ dutifully acquired post-rock band #14 from central-casting support act) on strolled the main men (and woman), who went on to show us, to some extent, their mastery of not only beautiful dissonance but also of the English language. Leaving me, the bitter cynic, well, still bitter and cynical but happily surprised. Each song was nicely woven into the next with rising and falling harmonies and clashes, helped along brilliantly by cellist Emilia Ergin and the daintily charismatic front man Owen Brinley. The songs themselves provided an interesting mish-mash of styles with the kind of eclectic mixture of instruments and epic chorus lines likened by Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros. Still though, as implied earlier and exemplified by a moment of peculiar intimacy when Brinley walked out into the audience singing the final lines of the final song, this band are a bit gimmicky. But as a live act it would be a severe nitpick to slate them on this basis; they are a genuinely exciting band to see live. The audience seemed similarly pleased if unfortunately sparse for a band who showed a great deal of presence and potential.

George Cooper

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—The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds

The Thrill Of Thirty Seconds is an encouraging track from Wakefield and Sheffield based, Skint & Demoralised. There is an intriguing and exciting mix of spoken word, poetic lyrics and soulful, jaunty, upbeat music that last long in the memory, far longer than thirty seconds you could say. The single is doubled edged almost; it provides easy listening and if ‘sold’ right, probable chart success, but there are parts that just scream critical acclaim. If this balance can be solidified on future releases, then Skint & Demoralised may be onto something big.

Released: 17th November 2008

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Having broken down on their way to Hull, I had the pleasure of doing an interview over the phone with Foals’ keyboard player Edwin Congreave. Right from the start it was obvious that the fame that comes with having a number three album in the charts hadn’t changed their way of life too much – Edwin himself
said that he felt that the only thing that had really changed was the fact that they now play bigger venues, and considering these guys have gone from playing house parties to Reading and Glastonbury this year alone is evidence.
Foals’ music has been classed by people, including Zane Lowe, as indie, so when asked of his opinion on this Edwin started off by saying that half of their label is indie music, but went on to joke that the label was also owned by Warner Brothers so can’t really be classed as indie. Musing on this, he then went on to make an interesting comment that indie is pretty much a “flat term” these days, having lost its original meaning and rounded off by suggesting that the band are different from most UK
indie bands.
With their new single Olympic Airways just released, the origin of the song became the next topic of conversation. The original lyrics and meaning of the song were completely different to the final version. The lyrics were about waiting in an airport and that the airport itself, Olympic Airways (hence the title), was one that lead vocalist Yannis went to and thought it was the worst airline in the world.
Having moved on from talking about the single the name of the band was brought up, and the origins of the band name. It was revealed that Yannis’ surname, Philippakis, contributed to the name, as translated Philippakis actually means ‘little lover of horses’ in Greek, and that the word itself is idealistic and had a “sense of charm to it”.
As the interview came to an end the band’s future became one final topic – with their rising fame the question of what was next; touring or recording, to which the reply was both. Foals are going to be
finishing off the UK tour, then are heading off to Mexico and Europe before getting six months off and then heading back into the studio to make the next record.
With the interview over and pleasantries exchanged, Edwin already seemed ready to get up and go on stage, even though he was on some remote motorway. And with six hours until show time, that’s dedication for you.

Tom Lewis

For a live review of Foals in Asylum, click here

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Live Review

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

@ HUU Asylum, Hull

Do FFAF still have the bollocks for blasting out a spleen-destroying performance at non-festival gigs, and yield the infestation of indie’s to decide that £15 is a fair price to pay for the hardcore lifestyle of the rock and roll? We were about to find out. But first I had to endure the Scottish 3-piece In Case Of Fire. With a muse styling they had elements of progressive metal, but were unable to pull this off. Very uninspiring.

So with a distinct lack of appreciation for the previous band lingering in the snakebite moistened air, and with Cancer Bats entering the fray, the mood instantly lifted with the onset of these bushy bearded American metal heads. Ear bleeding vocals stained a talented group of musicians. Unfortunately I found myself being inextricably bored after two and a half songs. We’ve all heard the “I drink a bottle of JD for breakfast” style metal a thousand times before and a hundred times done better.

Enter our emphatic hosts for the night. With an intro of We Are The Champions, the Welsh rockers bounded onto stage, filling me with a massively insecure sense of anti-climax. And the first song didn’t do anything to alleviate those worries. It felt like they were fumbling around with my supple breasts while I lay there still bored. Would this be the standard for the remainder of the set? Would I have to finish myself off? No. Juneau kicked in and instantly, from the first note, everyone grew a smile as big as Asylum, and started jumping up and down like only a few songs per generation can do. Everyone remembered why they fell in love with Funeral in the first place, and fell in love all over again. Although it has been ten years since their first full studio album was released, they did manage to play more of their earlier material, much to my delight. An awesome rendition of Your Revolution Is A Joke stole the show, and with a rip roaring encore they bid an enraptured crowd fair well, but not without saying “Hull” many, many times during the set. No one told him there is no ‘H’ in ‘Ull.

Dan Carlin

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Live Review

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip

@ HUU Johnny Mac, Hull
23rd October 08

Whether it was to do with number of tickets being sold, their quirky ideals (they are soon to play a series of ‘library gigs’ in the South East where they hail from) or a mixture of both, the Johnny Mac bar instead of Asylum made for a sweaty and excitable atmosphere. Support came from Mr Beasley, a Hull disco-duo producing sweetly hypnotic vocals and the unpredictable synth edginess reminiscent of peak-period Daft Punk. Kid Carpet next took to the stage: you’ll either love him or hate him; I fell into the latter category after some deliberation. A dominantly rowdy and comedic hip-hop/experimental combo; remixing Sega ‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ sounds with Van Halen’s Jump was superbly done and raised a smile at the same time, KC may leave you scratching your head, until sensitive set-highlight Hitting The Wall  blissfully washed over the crowd. DLS VS SP entered to a remix of the Antiques Roadshow theme tune that set the crowd into a frenzy. Pip clearly can’t tolerate the polite head-nodding seen so many times at gigs these days, and urged people to dance, desiring the response they deserve. They run through debut album Angles, expertly performed presenting influences from The Beastie Boys to Dizzee Rascal and back again. Fixed is a nod to the current over-simplified state of UK hip-hop, Letter From God To Man is melodic commentary on the world itself and Thou Shalt Always Kill is a methodical list of faux-pas and impoliteness. These all point to the road of ‘preachiness’, the road many bands decide to follow (not naming names!) to make a cut above the rest. If you overlook this trait however, you’ll appreciate the music for its own worth; the fusion between poem-like lyrics and bashy beats, and simply the amount of fun they have with songs – an energetic version of Sugababes’ Push the Button and an acoustic rap about working in a shop just to start. So whether you appreciate their commentary or their musical content, DLS VS SP will be heard.

Matt Woods

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Live Review

The View

@ Welly, Hull
22nd October 08

After a year’s absence, The View mark their return with a grueling tour of the smaller venues across England.  Despite being dubbed by many as ‘one hit wonders’ after the ridiculous success of Same Jeans, tonight Welly is still heaving with a rowdy and enthusiastic crowd.  The new single 5Rebeccas seems to have evoked a new faith in the masses that The View shouldn’t be forgotten just yet.

The room erupts as The View lumber on stage sporting unruly hairstyles and the heavily Scottish greeting of “You al’right you crazy bastards?!’” As they launch into their set the floor moves and bodies fly, the biggest reaction of course being to Same Jeans and the storming Wasted Little DJs that ends the set. Previously unheard songs such as Jimmy’s Crazy Conspiracy go down well and promise a new album that certainly won’t disappoint.

The flaw in this performance however, is that the crowd contributes much more to the atmosphere of the gig than the band do.  The singer and lead guitarist do attempt to interact with the crowd on several occasions, but soon discover that in Hull, quickly spoken Scottish over a noisy crowd isn’t easily understood.  The View play a competent collection of songs and look like they are thoroughly enjoying themselves, but somehow still manage to look like your mates band doing one of their first gigs in the local pub. This serves as a reminder perhaps, a short realization in that The View are still very young.

Although they don’t receive much banter and response from the stage, the crowd is clearly very appreciative of what they’ve been given.  Between each song and during a ‘technical difficulty’ the united chant of “The View, The View, The View are on fire!” thunders throughout the room.  To complete their live shows The View may need a renewed confidence and a more casual crowd interaction, but this performance and their new material proves that we haven’t seen the last of them.

Harriet Shephard

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