Author: blueestai

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Classic Horror Theatre

Haunted – “Influential horror stories dug up and made fresh” – The University of Sheffield Drama Studio (1st April 2023)

When it comes to yarn spinning the best type (in our opinion) is, quite explicitely, the one involving reading from a book or telling a grand tale. Knitting a jumper seems rather complicated and in folklore so many bad things seem to happen when you start spinning that wheel. That being said there is that familiarity in a favourite jumper, especially the one that appears after seemingly doing commando-ops in the bottom of your clothes drawer. In a strange way this comfort is rather like that of classic ghost stories, especially when their form and idea is respun in stories of the modern day.

Made in conjunction with The Book of Darkness and Light/LittleMighty/Harrogate Theatre, penned and performed by Adam Z. Robinson, and showcased as part of Enable US (which joyfully brings “New professional performances” to the old Baptist setting) “Haunted” is a play directed by Dick Bonham which we recently saw that showcased a performance of classic stories “The Upper Berth” (F. Marion Crawford, 1894) and “The Monkey’s Paw” (W.W Jacobs, 1902).

The Monkey’s Paw itself is close to the consciousness with such recent adaptations as The Simpsons, and (our personal favourite) Inside Number Nine, so watching a seed of these ideas being played back is a treat meaning that “Haunted” occupies a space which hits the sweet spot in the mind where your favourite spooky feelings dwell.

It all starts with hard liquor from the decanter, as our narrator gets a case of the shaky hands and tells us that “nothing will get him back on thatship”. “The Upper Berth” is a great story about a passenger on a cruise ship who ends up staying in a room which all the staff speak ill of due to the fate of several of those who were boarded there on previous voyages. The adaptation really keeps some of the best descriptions that set the scene, e.g. “sad coloured curtains”, his sensory description of the “wet” floor, and the individual running like “the shadow of a galloping horse”, and the performance around the spookiness of the “port hole” is memorable. In “The Monkey’s Paw”, we get a different story about a family who acquire a magical artifact from a Sergeant-Major returning from service India that grants wishes; but when has that ever been unproblematic? Robinson’s range is good as he moves from the part of an educated, supernatural sceptic to the Northern, working class father of the story in “The Monkey’s Paw”, who seems more than willing to accept and get his hands dirty in that superstitious, dark unknown. Other side characters such as the doctor on the boat are effectively performed allowing us reminisce of how an exasperated, worried and educated man of science of the time might be like too.

The constrasting themes of the perils of the curiosity of the scientific method (The Upper Berth) vs the curiosity of the chance to cheat life and fate itself are gruesomely desperate and fun themes. “The Monkey’s Paw” is great for what it doesn’t show too as well are left to imagine the grisly “machinery” death of one of the characters. It’s fascinating to see here how the promise of wealth even corrupts those with modest ideas about improving their station in life but also the pain and strength of avoiding temptation and trying to right a terrible wrong. Robinson switches between roles well, they all have distinct voices and idioms that make them recognisable. The only confusion for us is when Mr White (in the Monkey’s Paw) seems to refer to his wife as “Mother”. This could be narratively simpler for the audience to follow or it is possible we are losing our own internal plot at this point.

Credit must be given to the BSL interpreter (whose name I did not get unfortunately) whose forlorn and haunted expressions accompanied the signings and kept the grim atmosphere and tension high. The set is recognisable and effective in it’s choice of furnishings (Steve Watling/Charlotte Woods, technical manager) with the ghostly, greyed pictures in frames and domesticity of “The Monkey’s Paw” compared with the rolling netting, old case and dusty bottles of the marine nightmare. The lighting was moody and communicated the bleakness of the dark well (particularly as part of The Upper Berth). At times there were loud sound spikes for the jump scares. These were quite successful, we did jump at least once during the show after a scary build up.

These two stories are a great showcase of presentation, performance and writing. “Haunted” is the unfolding dread of the unknown and the dangers of human choice and inquisitiveness when perhaps things, “should just be left alone”. Old in subject yet lovingly adapted (and inclusive), it was a night to remind of the joys of storytelling and bone-chilling horror.

Photos by Charlotte Woods,

Check out the rest of Enable Us’s programme here, theres some great stuff.

For more details of projects and artists LittleMighty support, click here.

For enquiries around covering horror, folk horror theatre or folk music, please email us on reviewer@folk-phenomena.co.uk

Categories
Dark Folk Duo Electronic Folk Music Folk Stories Historical Myths Nature Folk Poem Review Spoken Word Synth

Swift Wings and Lost Stones – Live Gig Review

University of Sheffield Drama Studio on 13 November 2022

Enable US Project https://performancevenues.group.shef.ac.uk/about-us/enable-us/

We had the pleasure of attending an event which marks the shimmering of the air and the slipstream of the horror season as we move from the month of Halloween and into the one of even darker nights and exploding lights. 

With a strong connection to Folk Horror, early 20th Century, poetry and traumatising children’s television (which is slightly before my time), we are treated to a thoughtful, exploratory evening of two parts, namely (i.) a lecture on the Avebury stones, Stonehenge and Silbury Hill, and ideas around them, and (ii.) a musical gig that provides atmospheric samples and song over essential poetry. This all takes place within the cool, intimate wings of the University of Sheffield’s Drama Studio.

To start, we meet David Bramwell, author of “Cult of Water” as he looks into the Avebury Stones, his experiences and connections with the children’s show, “Children of the Stones”. It is an intriguing, enlightening talk and not exclusively for its educational value. Brawell does an almost Dave Gorman thing by pursuing the history of a fake stone head that was part of an April Fools Joke around Avebury and where that indeed may lead to. Along the way there is a joyous, informed exploration of monuments and interpretations of their purpose. His playful manner does dig into some of our most basic preconceptions sometimes such as, “Cavemen didn’t live in caves, they could build houses, no-one would ever live in a cave.” That raised a good laugh. 

The theme of our preconceptions is the starring role here as Bramwell gives us a glimpse of what a particular brand of children’s programme was in the 70’s (I will give you a clue, terrifying). On one hand he looks at the notion of celebrity through history; and on the other he dips his toe into counterculture views of the stones when he recalls discussions with musician and celebrity Julian Cope. As you would expect, when Cope gets involved it goes, in all the best ways, from him dipping his toe in to losing a leg to an alligator under the still waters. 

The second half brought us to a gig by Justin Hopper and Sharron Kraus with tracks from their swift wings album. Here the ambience of the venue at Sheffield Drama Studio (which we haven’t mentioned yet) really came into its full. Sparse lighting, an enigmatic triangle of candles and the aetheric, sight saturating brightness of Wendy Pye’s nature visuals. 

Combining Krauss’s haunting vocals,  recorders, flute and synth loops with Justin Hopper’s assured narration, we enter the world of Victor Neuburg, a more-than associate of Aleister Crowley and the poetry he produced through his own press. Before the performance there was some context to Neuburg’s life and viewpoint which complimented the open, peaceful messages of the first half of the evening. Neuburg clearly suffered through life, but many of his joys are also scratched deep into the velum of his work, where many of his poems spring from (only having been uncovered this very year). Some of our favourite of the chilling but often bursting-with-life tracks include, “Frenchlands” an upbeat, woodwind-fuelled, mustard-yellow haze of a dream that precipitates the mind like a passing ray of sun on the face. “Coombes” a more future-centric track which can hit like a kind of spiritual cyborg, ruminating on “ghosts”, and the the otherworldly purgatory, grey and flat “October” feeling that trying to escape the taunt of spiraling, embracing thorns. Joy and gloom, the call of history and the spirit of doing justice to this creative, obscure soul is a great way to spend an evening. The album itself will undoubtedly be an interesting staple for folk fans, folk horror enthusiasts, poet-chasers and magickal practitioners all alike and together in appreciation.

Thoughtful and enjoyable as both a nostalgic folk horror memory, an exploration of counter-cultural notions (such as water dowsing), and a call to pre-Christian beliefs it was a great night amplified by the immersive, humbling and spiritual power of Swift Wings’ performance.

If you are interested in having a listen to the album, then click on to their Bandcamp here, or checkout a sample video below.

Categories
British Folk Music Mixed Genre nature Nature Folk Romanian World

Lizabett Russo – “While I Sit and Watch This Tree” Volume 2

Still unique in her magical space between Scotland and Romania, Russo’s glass vocals strike an irresistable balance of mind and nature that encompasses an idiosyncratic, beautiful reflection of self.

Release Date – 4th November 2022

Lizabett Russo returns with “While I sit and Watch This Tree Volume 2”, a continuation of her multiform presentation of consciousness. 

Previously we wrote about Lizabett Russo (do go and read here) in her previous volume which we described as, “the art of Scott Maismithi with its sharp, bright colours showing the natural landscape like a musician’s heart and soul in bloom.” Volume 2 does reach these joyful optimistic notes, but the lower, darker tracks are more pronounced like the blacker, denser part of a creme caramel with its chains of musical sugars tangled together. It is an album of balance though. Much like Russo’s other works it is not primarily of one mood, but several taking place on stage, and some even jostling for position within the same song; all taking place within Russo’s love of nature.

Romanian-born, and Scotland-settled Russo is joined again by Graeme Stephen on guitar, piano and effects, Udo Dermadt on percussion and Oene van Geel on strings. As before, they more than deliver on building and performing what often sounds like Russo’s inner monologue on the themes of identity. The space is filled with experimentation in percussion, a sense of improvisation in the strings and an attitude of exploration through its musical layers. It would not work without the sound recording as it is, but the mix manages to highlight all the areas and musicians’ work here. 

Russo’s second track “Lessons” is like a sweeping, deadly spray of liquid nitrogen cooling on to scorching metal, her central emotions  pulsing within a metal vessel. The instructive vocals are not unlike an inner voice that reassures the subject, “Even if it broke you, it lifted up your soul”. The voice balms as Russo talks of both a past love and the resenting effort it can be to love. This plays across a background that recognises the positive feelings that are felt in awkward, unfulfilled relationships. This dualism is reflected in the soundscape as a whole with gentle guitar-like strings navigating around electronic strings and samples that are almost shaking themselves away with its own tension in a swelling and tearing of fiercer emotions in this aural mindscape. In the track, “Woman Have you Lost Your Mind?”, we get a more ethereal tale of Russo’s head trying to calm her heart on her decision to move so far from home.. Similarly cerebral, it is overall much warmer in tone, more comforting and ruminating, “people are flowers they do come back in the springtime”. It is almost a song of self-care. Both songs are different parts of the mind talking to itself; Russo examines the world of her inner picture like a mechanic doing a Rorschach test from the collected rivulets of motor oil on her workbench.

Track 5 “What Grows Inside Dark Souls” lays a path of thudding, nearing danger that is dark and ambient. Russos deep instructive vocals are cut with thoughts, words, possibly curses as the electronic samples both tingle and throb. The whole soundscape is how we would imagine Blade Runner’s Vangelis and how the soundtrack would be on the edges of Los Angeles where undisturbed forest clashes with technology. As all the tracks here the elements leap together in this excellent thought experiment. The way it combines invokes questions of the source of evil, and how old superstition and spiritual beliefs can be encouraged, accelerated and formed by technology. Like a technological chorus you hear flashes of nature coming through, it is a powerful, sense-blasting song. 

Whilst the album, as the ones before, occupy a beautiful not-fully known space of jazz, world and folk; Russo as has previously shown, makes a full leap into trad folk for a track or two (The Water is Wide on the last album), and here it is for House Carpenter (Child 243). We have heard a lot of Russo’s work and would never expect her to take off her shoes and walk for an album of traditional British Folk, her power is definitely her explorations in consciousness and inner monologue, unfettered by expected convention. Saying that, her treatment of House Carpenter, for us at least, is nothing short of stellar. Russo’s vocal range lowers to better fit, but the jewel of her personal experience and learning can be clearly seen in how this song is tackled. Beautifully melodic, vocally interesting and reassuringly atmospheric, Russo’s voice along with backing harmonies bring the sense of tragedy that is needed. It all fits as well in an album that contains the questioning decisions that a person makes, much like the subject of the song about leaving her child.

“Hora Unirii” is an expression of Russo’s deeper roots. The 1856 poem by Vasile Alecsandri (with music being composed by Alexandru Flechtenmacher) is especially sung as and unofficial anthem of Romania. Much like Televiziunea Română, who used it to sign off during their network during 1985 to 1989, Russo likewise signs off on her new album. Originally sung, as you would expect, in that rousing Masculine open-heart manner, Russo instead emphasises the fragile, quietness of love for her birth Country, She does this with a simple, emotive performance over the gentle sways of a music box. It seems to show a love which continues as the key is wound, a beautiful, personal kind that is deep in the heart and must continue to be tended to throughout life.

“While I sit and Watch This Tree Volume 2” is an enthralling, cerebral work that explores Russo’s journey in a semi-autobiographical way. The songs parade across genres, unified by an inner questioning that hints of regret be it for some major decision previously made (as in House Carpenter), a call to her homeland (Hora Unirii), or over some kind of relationship (Lessons). It might be just that Russo is reflecting on her life in a bare, honest fashion and laid it down carefully on this album. With the clever, original work we got, this is no bad thing.

If you would like to purchase the new album, the best place is from the artist direct here.

Lizabett Russo is also on tour (at time of writing), check out her site to see her live! (here).

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Debut Folk Music Irish Nature Folk Scots Singer-Songwriter

Iona Lane – Hallival – Album Review

Released – March 25 2022

From beyond the rolling mist (and probably a few sheets of snow) the mountain of Hallival stands beautiful as a site of exploration, and in seeing it, a conquest of one’s own very ideas of beauty. Iona Lane’s debut album takes this beauty and transcribes it into a folky exploration (and a curious one) heavily inspired by the mountain on the island of Rum. Lane digs deep into Scottish folklore and legends and sets these delightful pictures to the wallpaper of the green, enigmatic landscape itself (with a beautiful, careful meshing). This mixing of inspiration and lore is a stirring, deep breath out and a fresh start to the year.

There are some interesting tracks to find here. 

“May You Find Time” is a good place to start. Being a kind of call for the restorative balm of nature and everything in it it breathes deeply in a refreshing way. Lane sings of wild baths, the building of nests and to“look for tides to take your sorrow”. Unashamedly bouncy and joyful, it is unsurprising if it will help to reappraise some of the simpler joys in your life.  

“Fingal & Bran” is one of those mythologically tickling tracks you get on a folk album. A song about the duo of giant and dog; it is a gentle affair that looks at the landscape and muses on the pair’s travails as they can be seen in the wondrous shapes of the hillside, the breath of the wild as we consider “causeways and caves and all things fade”. Lane’s voice has a kind of choral shadow here like a brambled hedgerow that darkens its poppier influences only to tracer sparks of the orchestral strings of classic folk. Slightly melancholy, its echoes and character harken to the delightfully exploratory path of Emily Portman with a fantastical darkness hiding in the potential energy of a cobra knot.

We also have a lot of time for “Mermaid”. Lane’s voice is smooth alongside the lament of the shruti drone.  Like all the best stories of yore, it concerns the family of the Macleods and how they got the Devil’s hands to help build Ardvreck Castle. The problem is that the father of the family refuses to sell his own soul to the Devil as a price but offers his daughter’s hand in marriage in return.The instruments are slightly unsettling and build atmosphere in the background to Lane’s seriousness. The tension ratchets up as it goes on. The track wears the spectral influences on its sleeves and invites you to imagine this moment of history while you look into Loch Assynt.  

Headspace is a beautiful and short addition to the album. Like the tapping of light fingertips to the cheeks it speaks as a love song to the gentle joy of happiness within. Its melody depicts the joyous feeling of a mind at rest, like a puppy with its playful tummy being tickled. The piano tinkles are a large-eyed enthusiasm, and the dancing strings of the guitar deck float in a gentle breeze; it is close to one of those ASMR videos with Lane’s softly spoken voice and positivity. This positivity oozes on to the following track, “Crossroads”, a sincere call for freedom that Lane wrote in response to history and how traditional instruments, music and dance have been banned across Scotland and Ireland at different times. 

All-in-all, the album is the essence of delicate nature and the energy within like a sun-filled day and a basket full of freshly washed laundry. Her songs are like the heaving clothes that splatter an intriguing, emotive water as they are heaved over Spanish floor tiles. There is a heartfelt construction and performance here which shines in the confidence of its debut status. It is also methodical, it does not rush to gorge the senses, but slowly enfolds from its creation and warms the listener. 

We love the range. As mentioned, Lane plays hopscotch with the natural world, stories and myths and a dash of history in the influences for the album and manages to keep the interest of each part in her sights. If this sounds up your street, you could do far worse than check out Iona Lane’s first album, a considered and strong entry into the world of folk. 

If you are interested in purchasing the album, we recommend purchasing direct from Iona Lane on BandCamp @ https://ionalane.bandcamp.com/releases

Categories
Album/EP Reviews Folk Music Folk Stories Mixed Genre Science

The Story Song Scientists – Quantum Lyrics (review)

Released October 2021

Sit up, science is about to begin! For those who like to follow the Roud index as much as the Alper-Doger Index, an EP is out which looks at some incredible stories of science, celebrating them in the warm halo of Findlay Napier and Megan Henwood. The stylings of Glaswegian Napier and bluesy-lyricist Henwood’s folk have combined into something both nerdy and musically beautiful, the likes we have not seen of any time in recent memory (except of course their first EP “Story Song Scientists”, of course). This fusion with its heart in experimentation goes some way to make us quicken from a slow meander to a quintessential sprint with purpose as we hear of some previously unheard human accomplishments from our history (and not all positive in nature).  

This EP contains crackly call-backs to yester-year, poetry and good old melodies whose quaint exterior masks the quite seismic effects on our history. Supported by the Arts Council these science stories spectaculaire are a potent mix of songwriting that is every bit the beauty of that potassium experiment you remember with all its fireworks (and less of what could be found behind the safety screen afterwards).

“Ode to the Man with the Man with the Golden Arm” is like a quick,friendly embrace with its gentle and softly spoken, 60s ballad influence. Describing James Harrison, a man with a rare antigen to Rhesus Disease in his blood, the song captivates with a folky, calling harmony and a melodic guitar pluck that quietly celebrates his accomplishment. On discovery of the antigen, Mr Harrison is purported to have saved 2.5 million babies in Australia by regularly donating blood every week for 60 years. The duo’s voices celebrate as a reverent singing whisper for an enormously generous human being; the track ripples its delicate butterfly wings in the Far East spreading its influences out. Like the calm, thoughtful works of Simon and Garfunkel, Napier and Henwood glow in awe with their captivating song style.

The idea behind the “The Anarchist Cookbook” is, of course, that book of legend whose reputation hadn’t dimmed in some circles I knew at school in the 90s. The recipes for such things as the construction of weapons, how to make LSD, and most famously, bombs were contained within. The spirit of the age is invoked as the song wonders how William Powell’s book could have affected the conscience of the author, “there is ink on my fingers, blood on my hands”. The juxtaposition of the damning lyrics with the dream-like guitar dissolves into a final chorus of clicks, static and growing synth drums that really sticks in that time-honoured tradition that the jolliest tunes are probably the most grim in content (just look at child ballads). Mirroring Mr Powell’s own regrets, the song is like a poorly maintained fairground. Breezy and fun, the danger lies beneath the surface in the track; it rises to the surface in the off-beat continuation of “Specimen 4 – TAC” (Track 8).

We also want to talk about “1800 and Froze to Death”. This delightful ditty is the catchy, sing-a-long blues number that we would normally find within Megan Henwood’s cabinet of music, and it being here serves the listener very well. The early track speaks of Mount Tambora’s eruption (the most powerful on Earth in 10,000 years) and how it created a climate catastrophe of famine and exceptionally cold temperatures. Clever rhyming with and charming interface between the two singers allows this song to flow as it talks about global, seismic changes to the world in the style of a guy out of work and down on his luck. Smoky and stylish like Henwood’s solo fare with a good eye on the word (as per Napier), this is worth taking pause for.

There are other tracks for you to mull over here, but without going into details it is safe to say that “The Story Scientists” has been a worthwhile experiment with everything here. Henwood and Napier’s voices are complimentary, the album is polished in production, and there have been some inspiring choices of science throughout.

If you are interested in the album it can be purchased from all good stockists, but as always we recommend you buy from the artists themselves at: https://meganhenwoodfindlaynapier.bandcamp.com/album/quantum-lyrics

Categories
Acoustic Blues Folk Music Trad Covers Traditional

5th March 2022- Phil Beer at Wesley Centre, Maltby

We have recently had the pleasure of visiting the opening night of “Wesley Centre Live”, a series of folk gigs that has started in Maltby. We wanted to share our experiences with you, for more information about upcoming gigs, go to https://www.facebook.com/wesleycentrelive/?ref=page_internal. 

Heading out in your car a little East of Rotherham you come to Maltby, and near to the centre of that there is the Wesley Centre. The Wesley Centre is a Methodist Chapel with it’s first references to worship being from a directory entry in 1832 and for this night it is the setting for “Songs of the Road”, a post-Covid solo gig by Phil Beer (from folk band, Show of Hands). Phil Beer is a great choice of the inaugural gig for meetup being a multi-instrumentalist who not only lived and played through modern folk’s golden age but is also a personable lively sort of individual who is an affable, early tonic for the recovering live music scene. 

We found The Wesley Centre to be a great modern space for folk gigs. On entry there is enough space to fit a good number of audience members without it being a cramped space (there was  around 80 for this gig with space for more), but not so large as to detract from the intimacy of the event. The whole thing started with a warm welcome from Nick Wilson, one of the organisers who seems to have a great passion for live music. The overall shared sentiment was that live music was returning and this was a very welcome return indeed.   

Following the introduction, Phil takes the stage. Phil himself has many years of experience on the music circuit from his individual endeavours, partnerships, and of course recognition in the Exter everyman band that is “Show of Hands”. During the gig he regaled tales from his travels, recalled the folk club that was resident in the building many years ago, and had a few gentle humours regarding the Romans and their roads. Beer was softly spoken and with his banter he came across as a person very much interested in history, the landscape and the enduring purpose of music (folk or not). This was apparent as he dedicated his last few songs to singers of late who had themselves been given these gifts of early song. The most notable of these mentions was, of course, for Norma Waterson who passed away earlier this year. 

The set itself was split across songs that Phil and Show of Hands are well known for (folk and folk rock), and later on a delve into the blues influences that made up, “The Blues Hour” that Phil was involved in during the height of Covid-19 restrictions. This spread meant that Phil was leaning into the genres he has most been interested in, ones he has performed in extensively.

Just about timely was Phil performing, “Fire and Wine”, a song steeped in the immersive imagery of the cold season with it’s references to Robin Redbreast seeking food, and “wine for the mind”. With its winding recall of “we will sing Jack Frost away”, and the hint of light through the grey, heavy clouds, it is a great introduction to what will be a first live gig for many people. You could say that Beer’s guitar opens this lively, descriptive number with the careful eye of a jolly watchmaker.  We also heard the succinct, emotive fiddle of “The Blind Fiddler”, a historical American song about a blacksmith who gives up his job after an unfortunate accident and becomes a traveller seeking to help others. Beer brings an old, desperate angst to the song alongside some beautiful violin playing that both rises above the canopy of a verdant forest and to the low levels of despair felt by a drunken reveller lay in the drains. 

Phil’s rendition of “Cocaine Blues”, as most songs of it’s type, has a sparkle in it’s guitar that belies the nature of its subject matter. It is a popular and well-received song by the audience whose reception is only eclipsed when Beer turns his attention to that stalwart sing-a-long work number, “Blow the man down”. Both are a joy to hear and an example of Phil rousing the audience without even having to ask. We also hear “The next Best Western” which was Phil’s interpretation of Richard Shindell’s number about lorry driving. That signature blend of Christian imagery and occupation shines as a more deliberate part of the evening that like the slow whistling of the dust from the Southern Plains caused the audience a moment of reflection and thought during the twilight part of night. 

Seeing Phil Beer again, and at the Wesley Centre, has been an enjoyable experience. In relatively uncertain times there is a smile to be had to hear the well-travelled Beer sing songs inspired from history of the world, and the history of songs themselves (from several foundational Blues numbers). Cosy and inviting, the Wesley Centre is a good venue for the purposes of folk music (as shown from history) and long may it do into the future. The magic is in how Beer’s words and songs recall decades ago but it feels literally like yesterday as his spirited showmanship brings them right up to date and into our hearts.


To find more information about Phil Beer, go to http://www.philbeer.co.uk/

Categories
Animal Duo Folk Music Folk Rock Gig Modern Arrangement PR Singer-Songwriter

Carol Hodge and Birds & Beasts – 30 October 2021, Wainsgate Chapel, Hebden Bridge

Being (in probability), the most remote venue we have been to, outside of a music festival, we find the Wainsgate Chapel on the outskirts of Hebden Bridge really hits us in the face with it’s beautiful setting and stunning rural Yorkshire views. It is also our first post lockdown music gig in person (and our two year old daughter’s first ever gig) so there are equal parts of nervous expectation and blessed relief all round to seeing live music again. Some infant distractions aside, we are able to witness two beautifully performed 45 minute sets that blended into the old wooden eaves of the chapel in a delightful interplay of new and old.

This joyous embrace of old and new is witnessed in the first act. Carol Hodge sings and walks down from the church pulpit like navigating a smoke-filled staircase in a classy jazz bar. Known as the seven fingered songwriter, Carol Hodges plays a set with a voice and songs full of passion and delightful inner turmoil. Performing a set of songs that resonate with the theme of moving on from difficult situations, we find these insights are a perfect match for the beautiful, honest and from the heart lyrics. A singer-songwriter with several accolades, she has in recent months released her third album, “The Crippling Space Between”. 

Stand out numbers include,  “Fallibility”, a great addition to the set as one of those painfully honest Dear John letters in song form. Slightly less thrashing than the recorded version, it seeps an almost early 90s girl group earnestness (before it got swallowed up by “girl power”) that clatters with the sounds of soft metal and heavy rock. Hodge also impresses with, “Along for the Ride”, the wistful and optimistic piano-led track that uses cool pitch changes and chords that navigate a topic that weave between anger and acceptance like a loom weaving a Queen Band tea-towel. Distinctly musical and mildly dramatic, it would not be out of place in a stage musical involving motor-bikes and a rite of passage between being young and care-free (yeah!) to  a suburban life with lots of responsibilities (boo!).

Our favourite number that appears is “Curtain to Fall” which is an ode to everyone involved with the music industry whose work was affected by the lockdown. Naturally topical at present, it reminds us that nothing, not even Covid, can stop the music industry. Dwelling in the psychological gap left by musicians when their performance space is pulled from them; this could be a powerful addition to any musician’s playlist in their first post-lockdown gigs. With the hallmarks of that signature singer-songwriter number, it’s sadness and depth of conviction is a lens on this time and space; and however sad it makes us feel, we love it.

After the second break, we then return with the Birds & Beasts.

We will confess to already being massive fans of Birds & Beasts.  We first saw them perform whilst I was pregnant with my daughter, at another famous Hebden Bridge venue, so I am  excited for this follow up act. For those not in the know, “Birds and Beasts” are a Huddersfield-based folk-rock duo who write with animals in mind. The songs go beyond just animal inspiration though; they are interesting in that they are incredibly close to the lives of the beasts around and often the songs hold a mirror up between these and the human lives that are listening.

Here at Hebden Bridge they harken to the darker corners of the church with their presence. Anna and Leo’s set focuses on their more acoustic first album rather than the current hot property that is their second album “Kozmik Disko” that launched the previous weekend. It all works well.

The Birds and Beasts entertain with a collection of songs that brim over with that joyful 60s and 70s Summer vibe where the folk sounds call to the trees, the beaches and those vibrant places in the sun. There is a lot to like here including “Time Stands Still”, a song about a murder of crows lamenting the death of an elder. It is a song guaranteed to move anyone who has recently lost a loved one, it certainly hit a personal, moving chord with ourselves. The song features Anna beautifully playing a 22 string Irish harp with a chilling melancholy (which sadly had to be put away afterwards due to the cold temperature) . 

There are some other dreamlike numbers here such as “I May Fly”, a song not from their albums. It is a short, sweet and punchy song about what the mayfly can achieve in the small lifespan that it has. Like their other songs, this is an apt metaphor to our human lives and our own potential. It was so short that it made Blur’s Song 2 feel like a Greek epic in length. The song culminated in some excellent guitar playing by Leo. 

 “Medusa”  with it’s short, upbeat and catchy lines gives a hint of their new material to come (is it too early to get excited for a third album?); and “In The End” is an ode to being able to be with your loved ones again in the near future. In subject, it is about red deers in Ann’s homeland of Germany with the feeling that it equally applies to both the experiences of families divided by the Berlin wall, and the recent Covid lockdown that inspired it. It is performed with uplifting passion and a bright hope for the future, like many of their songs.

Leaving the gig feeling uplifted by a beautiful couple of hours of live music to get us through the drive home, we can’t wait to return to the venue for its next set of gigs in the new year. After all, in Carol Hodge’s words, “we will never be ready for the curtain to fall.”

For more information about Carol Hodge see her webpage here, and read about Birds & Beasts here.

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Acoustic Album/EP Reviews Animal Duo Energetic Folk Music Folk Pop Folk Rock Folk Stories Nature Folk No Covers

Birds and Beasts – “Kozmik Disko” review

Like the thunderous hooves of an approaching stampede, Birds and Beasts’ second album is a groove-filled, thumping and purposeful sophomore album which puts it’s classic rock expertise to very good use.

Album Launch Date: 23/10/21

If you have been living in a cave for the past few years, then chances are, (without you realising) you have had a song or two written about you by a band  from the sunny uplands of West Yorkshire. This will not be due to your lack of up-to-date news about youth slang, or your dislike of music post 1982, but it might be because you are a bear. Let us explain.

The Huddersfield-based band “Birds and Beasts” are the duo of Anna and Leo Brazil who had an epiphany about nature and our relationship with it. By looking at the behaviour and lives of animals, they combine the daily struggles of being an ant (for example) with imagery and situations we recognise as part of being human too. This natural communion has served them well on their previous offering, “Entwined” and now, after returning from that shady glen, their second album is out called “Kozmik Disko”. 

There is a temptation for us of a certain age (or with children) to have apocalyptic visions of a rave style “Baa Baa Black Ship” or a Hard House version of “Nellie the Elephant” while a DJ plays sped-up samples from a BBC Wildlife documentary (I am almost certain that second track exists and I have danced to it). Thankfully, nothing could be further from the truth as “Birds and Beast” carefully knit a strikingly sharp cardigan which has shades of commentary, wry humour and great sounds, as a well-constructed work that does not take short cuts. It’s mastering at Abbey Road Studios have put a real magnetic luster on the already fine contents.  

Take track 4 “The Bloat”, for example. Here is a song about warring hippos in direct confrontation of a watering hole. A watery layer of classic rock, some chunky riffs and jazz undertones the scene plays out like one of those old film brawls with flailing arms and accusations calling out over the top. Think of the Barn Fight from “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” but instead taking place in a 1970s Discotek. The vocals compliment each other well, there is a little kick of a pace and the song is an example, as many are on the album, of the artists’ versatility. Much like the Cape Buffalo, a thoughtful exploration of one’s partnership can suddenly turn, the track snakes in one direction and then finds a new emotion and beat, Before you know it you have been a lead in to a music genre that has been skillfully smuggled and blended in.

“The Current” tells of a shark and it’s electrical impulses that lead it to food, friends and family. Like the strong guitars of Heart’s “Barracuda” (also another shark, of course), the song has a strong beating heart where the two guitar tracks interact which pushes it on. Clean guitars throughout and a nicely light drum compliment the upbeat glow of the singers’ voices. It warms the hands and feet like a gentle, coal fire. A fine example of classic rock, “The Current” takes a concise approach to describing the creature as it feels around the busy waters much like the electric anticipation of a live concert. 

“The Day I was Born” is even more radiant describing the sweeter side of love alongside the intoxicating role of the honey bee. More than ready to jump into a soft shoe shuffle, the track is full of platitudes such as, “I am yours, body and soul”. The honey bee here is chosen from birth to “marry” the Queen bee, and the human subject comparatively is more than smitten and in love. The sense of all life being preordained and the subject being strongly carried by the waves of fate presides through the number. While we listen there are the bouncy sensibilities of 60s boy bands powdered with the pollen of 80s new wave and rock as those awesome brief synth interludes put their head over the parapets. Colourful and joyous, the track grabs you like a rainbow bulldog clip and refuses to let go. Wherever Birds and Beasts travel through or end up at with their songs there are some extremely catchy segments and turns of phrase that indicate some well-placed confidence in the songwriting department.

The joy of the album is that there are obvious and easy choices taken here, the songs are written well enough to take a pummeling even by an individual with no knowledge of the natural world because the human factor is equally recognisable and celebrated alongside. For every eloping couple there is the song, “Wolfpack” about two wolves leaving the pack to start a new life; for every hero there is “Keep Walking” the ant who sacrifices communication and closeness with the rest of the hive in order to save them; and if that’s not analogous enough we get “Deep Down”, a scorpion’s tireless search to find a mate. True, there is a lot about love here, but not once do you have to sit down to dull the nausea. There is all sorts of love: obsessive love, romantic love, love through duty and the songwriters give each a proper examination in the light of their watchful eyes. It helps that everything from the album cover artwork (designed by the band), to the off-beat, bright, DIY style to the music videos add oodles of charm; no scrap that, noodles of charm all hugging together in an instant ramen cup.

One of our favourites from the album has to be “Silver Moon Array” where a hedgehog awakes a little early (mid)  hibernation and does not recognise the world he has stepped into. Incredibly atmospheric, you feel a shiver as the snow comes and the hedgehog’s vision of stretches of grass is replaced by concrete. The duos’ vocals dance together with a good harmony with Anna taking the lead adding a great sadness underneath the jangly melody and tinged with an almost Caribbean keyboard backing track. The accompanying video (see below) just adds to the scene and tugs the heart chords.       

In case you hadn’t guessed, we strongly recommend “Birds and Beasts”. Their new album is a tight work that is informed by, but also extremely generous with it’s genre influences. It is an original series of tracks that pays its respects to animals without dressing them up in top hats and dinner jackets. Evocative and confident, the “Birds and Beasts” second album is an essential purchase for those with a hankering for unabashedly classic rock with an intriguing central premise that goes a long, long way.

Birds and the Beasts are launching their album tour, starting at the Laurence Batley Theatre in Huddersfield (supported by Dan Healey) on 23rd October, and then are going outward to other great venues, check out the details here.


The album is available from all good stockists, we recommend you purchase from the band directly here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVx_t-3DAGo
Categories
Appalachian Dance Folk Music Theatre

“Finding Folk” play – Sheffield University Drama Studio (5th August 2021) A Review

So after a pretty big hiatus for live events, we found ourselves trundling off to the Sheffield University Drama Studio to see the latest play “Finding Folk” by Phoebe Ophelia (http://www.phoebeophelia.com/finding.html).

Centred on the life experiences of Ophelia (a young Lancashire woman who we find has suffered trauma within her family), the scene sets on an overall green aesthetic with a rocking chair, some cool matching jade shoes and a quiet, gentle banjo tune strumming within the confines of the old Baptist Church. 

An audience member’s appreciation for “Finding Folk” will depend on what they intend for their evening. After all, “Finding Folk” can be thought of in three parts. It is:  (i.) song and dance inspired by Appalachian music and performed consistently well throughout the set  (ii) a drama, with aspects of the performer’s life physically re-enacted with all the pain and joys that comes with it and (iii.) a creative and arts-based therapy for the performer and (to some extent), the audience, which both seeks to explore the nature of the therapist-client relationship. There is some great singing and dancing here that shines like fresh fruit in the midday sun. This is due to Ophelia’s combined optimism and commitment during these song and dance moments. You get to hear the odd old-time ditty at certain intervals (such as “happy go lucky me”) coming over the waves in the more cheerful sections of the play, and this is all good, but the crux and main push of the play seems to sit more with the second and third points. There is a reason for this.

In keeping with the play being a piece of creative therapy, “Finding Folk” is quite vague with the details. There are quick snapshots, like thin slices of cheese, where things are clearer than others such as Phoebe’s representation of her mother’s ill health and being “on the waiting list”. This is an especially visceral scene, capturing the spinning wheel of ill thoughts that repeat and repeat in their destruction. It is an uncomfortable watch, but only because it is so raw and believable. There are other occasions which are seemingly happy but because of the “show-not-tell” nature, it is not fully clear whether it is a happy moment. At one point there is an interlude where Ophelia meets a man in a club and she spends the night with him. It seems like the warm beam of a lighthouse lighting up a foggy mind but it ends with a fall (literal and mental). Is it a negative event in itself, or does her mental health and doubts catch up with her? Perhaps this lack of clarity is the art itself as therapy investigates multiple truths and when mental issues are thrown in it can lead to the blurring of perception when they interact with memory, even before introducing them in the art space. 

This lack of precise details seems like a necessary characteristic of the first half of the play. The music and dance is a vehicle for the performer’s memories rather than what many might feel the key subject of discussion is. “Finding Folk” does not describe the healing power of the banjo as such, so you may be waiting for the epiphany moment when the banjo bursts into Phoebe’s life and brings respite to her feelings but along with some excellent dance steps, it is just kind of “there”, quietly dropped in from the beginning and allowed to take root through the course of things.

When the performance ends and there is a 45 minute discussion about the work which is preceded by a relaxation technique to open up the feelings of the audience. We wondered how this would play out as in our work life we encounter these aspects of mental health regularly and see the importance of discussing interventions and therapy. That being said, the notion of using the second half to ask specific questions to clear up and build on what has been shown in the first half was not a part of the performance which we were fully invested in. We applaud the innovation here, and enjoyed the discussion but would have preferred a longer, perhaps more traditional performance with further narration that strongly delved into the central character “Finding Folk”, as in the title. Like we said, the love of folk is implied in the performance as the artist does not reference it much. This is especially the case when the first question of the discussion is an audience member asked “how” the central character “found folk”. Some will be fully involved and intrigued, whereas other audiences might find this interactive part too intrusive and left-field for their tastes.

That being said, it is a moving and valuable piece of work which excels in its physicality in performance and music. Heart-felt and brave, it sets out  as an exercise in catharsis and exploration of trauma, memory and art and manages this (in large part due to Ophelia’s excellent physicality). Those with a large interest in folk music might want to check they are ready for an evening of more introspection and experimentation than they are expecting before venturing into the night to purchase a ticket. 

Categories
Acoustic Album/EP Reviews Cabaret Folk Music Folk Pop Irish Mixed Genre

Emma Langford- “Sowing Acorns” – A Review

A fun album that will defy attempts to hold it down in one place. Well arranged and with some seriously confident creations, this disc hints at a continued bright future for Langford.

Release Date: September 2020

It’s been a long time coming, but we have finally got around to reviewing the second album by the characterful, nu-folk joy of a musician that is Emma Langford. Nu-Folk you ask? 

Well Nu-Folk can be all sorts including songs about love, teenage issues to new worries about the world and environment, and all of it will contain a trapping or more of folk music within it. It might be something with a diy acoustic vibe, a grandiose trumpet/some-kind-of-brass solo or some incredibly shiny banjos and usually it is all held together without any historical theme or mention of tradespeople, but something different that speaks to a modern sadness or joy.

This “different” thing is not always what we are personally interested in, but before you expertly flatten your cap to go and find a song about ploughing, take pause. When done well,  Nu-Folk, like all music, is a wonder to behold. When jazz hits folk in a way that creates that yesteryear feeling, when the lyrics are tightly wound and chosen and each word is strung and tuned more daring and precise than the last, then you can go back to your porridge and everything in the world is still right. It is safe to say that Langford has got things right here with a strong sophmore entry.

Irish-born Langford has made strides in recent years. She has been named Best Emerging Folk Artist by Irish national broadcaster, RTÉ Radio 1, and likewise was shortlisted as the Best Folk Singer in the RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards of  2020. Before these awards and the phenomenon of Covid, Langford found many opportunities to tour away from  Limerick, with her sound being  over Europe in Denmark, Switzerland, Germany and others. She must be as joyous as a raffle winner; the one who is making her strides to the raffle table to choose and collect the one good remaining prize (which is usually a suspect looking bottle of wine).

Listening to the CD the first thing that strikes you is the contrast between the songs here. Like a honey badger fighting a mole snake, it is a beast of a CD with different flourishes and movements that it showcases to be able to make success on it’s own terms. There are tracks that are a showcase of a folk-talent bonny and bright, but then you have the other genres mixed here with their colours coming together delightfully like a skittle milkshake (though brush your teeth before and after this album please). This being said, there is nothing here that is over-sentimental or sickly sweet (or as disagreeable as the lime skittles).

“The Winding Way down to Kells Bay” is a light-touch, joy-filled handshake of a song that splashes and sprays seawater over the rocks of the sunny beach you are walking down. This could be a folk staple with Langford’s voice being the engine that is in James Bond’s Aston Martin compared to a modern supercar. She isn’t racing you along so you aren’t getting a battering in the ribs, but rather you get to see the scene in the stately drive, see the landscape and feel the land. Much like the foam of the sea it is breezy and casual yet quintessentially and seriously the folk you are looking for .

The album opener “BirdSong” is a striking choral chant that thuds and scraps it’s way onto the scene with it’s rolling shockwaves of confidence and defiant tone. Demanding attention, it’s lyric “Til your eyes find me I’m strong as my bones” is pretty much a spell of power harkening to all women whose strength of mind and body is not unlike a basalt carving. Moved and formed by a volcanic heart of compassion and love, it portrays a grit and determination in it’s stalwart composition and steady pace. Contemplating the weakness in pairing with another person, the song itself repeats and builds, many voices come in and it’s musical layers come together in an almost spiritually clean manner. Simple enough in construction but the devil is in the detail, it shines like stars in the night cloak of the sky. 

Goodbye Hawaii is probably our favourite track on the album. Definitely having it’s mirror focused on the yesteryear here is a song with a vintage, jazz sea-sprayed quality combined with buzz words from Grey’s Anatomy. Undeniably rosy-cheeked and spirited, it is interspersed with lyrics that call on Oxytocin and heart muscle as if they were volleyball buddies in Miami. Perhaps it is the sound of Hannibal having a holiday in the Bahamas or Dexter on a city break? Whatever the intention, gruesome interlude or cute fact-check on anatomy it’s a visceral description of what being heart-broken is like and the associated emotional pain that is felt from being left. Langford croons incredibly well amongst the jangly percussion. Langford’s classy image, the sound of suburbia and a clear looking love to this island you get the impression that there was a lot of fun to be had here.  

You Are Not Mine (This Song Isn’t About You, You Lying Bollix) is another good swinging time with punchy, soft drums and gentle strums in between a purposeful, yet meandering heady mix that seems an awful lot like those complex interactions at wedding receptions. It is the sound of history as you share a space with an old relationship, that weird spark of energy and familiarity that grabs your heart until your head overrides. Hopefully you realise that little heist that is going on is a sequel to the tune of Oceans 12, and is probably not a good idea. A great track to finish the album. 

There is a lot else here to enjoy such as the breathy, intimate questioning of “Free to Fall” in it’s acoustic simplicity, the anthemic and placard raising sensibilities of the title track, or the bright, snappy retro Angel Delight of a dessert that is “Ready-O”.  Langford moves through the pages of history stopping at the heart-felt meadow, the cosmopolitan champagne bar, and wind-swept beaches like a bee collecting the nectar of music. As she goes she collects what she needs to make a confident, whimsy-filled album brimming at the edges with joy and talent. The cabaret has started, everyone start your cheers.

“Sowing Acorns” is available on Bandcamp directly from the artist, at https://emmalangfordmusic.bandcamp.com/album/sowing-acorns

For more information about the artist, go to her page here.

— I do not claim ownership or copyright of any pictures used in this post. If I have not identified your work and you want your photos credited then please contact us at reviewer@folk-phenomena.co.uk