December 12th, 2011
While the artists that played St. James’ Church and the majority of the people who watched them have all made the trek back around the Dingle peninsula or gone back to work in their respective cities and towns, seven Irish bands and the crew of Other Voices spend the entire Monday in McCarthy’s Bar on the Main Street.
There’s no drinking to be had here (at least not til later that night when the crew can put their feet up) as each band are here to perform one song in the venue of McCarthy’s which is a small room out back with a corrugated roof that pings with rain when it pours down (and it has been regularly).
We Cut Corners sooth us into the 11am start with ‘A Pirate’s Life’ and the performances continue all day with The Ambience Affair echoing how everyone else feels with ‘Fragile Things’, Cork band Fred played the building ‘Stereoscope’ from recent album Leaving My Empire, upcoming alt-pop Dubin band Gypsies On The Autobahn performed ‘Five Words’ while Lisburn man Peter McCauley who goes by the name of Rams Pocket Radio and Dingle resident Eithne O’Cathain aka Inni-K impressed with ‘1+2′ and ‘Gentle Star’ respectively.
Sandwiched (sorry, couldn’t resist) between all of the acts, Ham Sandwich performed their breakthrough hit ‘Ants’. In Benners bar, after their performance in the IMRO room, Niamh and Podge of the band are enjoying the relaxed atmosphere and tell of happenings on the main street in Dingle just minutes before.
“Did you see that?, ” Podge asks. “There was a tractor going up the road and it had one single sheep standing in the back on the loader thing and it was only just off the ground so it looked mental. A single sheep getting a lift up the town. So funny.”
“It was bizarre… brilliant,” adds Niamh.
Ham Sandwich are not a new band but this is their long overdue first time at Other Voices. The band’s second album White Fox has been doing well for them and the song they performed in Dingle for the cameras has really helped.
“‘Ants’ reeled in lots of new fans, ” says Podge. It’s different to everything else on the album but people seem to hear that and want to go and listen to the rest.”
While the band had played in Dingle before, this visit was also their first time in McCarthy’s bar where the recordings take place. The owner of the bar, Tom who was clearly impressed by them had his own way of asking them to play the pub venue…
Tom: “Have you played Dingle before? ”
Podge: “A couple of times.”
Tom: “Why haven’t you played here?”
Podge: “We were never asked…”
Tom: “Well you’re being asked now.”
Ah, the Dingle charm.
Photos by James Goulden:
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December 6th, 2011
The final night of the St. James’ Church recordings and it’s possibly the best of the lot. We begin with an unknown which we quickly want to find out more about. Ben Howard is an English singer songwriter recently signed to Communion Records (and now Island Records). Home to a slew of interesting folk artists like Michael Kiwanuka, Daughter and Matthew & The Atlas, Communion has become a mark of quality of late. Howard is no different. The surfer acoustic singer songwriter carries with it negative connotations these days but Howard is a way more interesting proposition than many of that ilk. His woolen voice is set against a folk sound that has a dark edge to it as heard on set standout ‘Black Flies’.
The second Dingle welcome of the night goes to a band that have already proved themselves as considerable talents over three albums. Wild Beasts’ latest album Smother is their most masterful of the three to date and the entire set is drawn from it in St. James’ Church. The setting being as intimate as it is, the lights being so much brighter than regular gigs due to the TV recordings, there is nowhere to hide. If a band aren’t up for the challenge, they’ll soon be found out. The Cumbrian band have no such worries. It’s rare to see a band so locked in to their music, so comfortable and talented and knowing about their playing, that they instantly create a magical atmosphere, taking advantage of the reverence that the church affords. The set is taken from the first eight tracks on Smother performed in order (Watch the entire set at The Guardian) While the songs are great ( ‘Lion’s Share’ , ‘Bed Of Nails’, ‘Albatross’ and ‘Plaything’ in particular if pushed) the performance is magnetising. There’s a sprawling sound to Wild Beasts that they create with such control. Hayden Thorpe’s voice is so much less dramatic and jerky than it used to be, his operatic tones smoothed out with texture. Watching him lunge around the stage as if waltzing with an invisible ghost is a highlight while the band’s secret weapon, their drummer Chris Talbot makes excellent use of two bongos on his kit to produce unique rhythms. Wild Beasts are easily one of the most important AND interesting bands around if this set is anything to go by.
By contrast, Spiritualized’s set consists almost entirely of songs from a forthcoming LP due in February that no one has yet heard. Project main man Jason Pierce has spoken of it as his attempt to make a pop album but there’ll be no three minute ditties here. As is standard for most of the Spiritualized back catalogue the songs are sometimes elongated by guitar and psychedelic freak outs but at their core they are based on simple ideas. Bluesy guitar riffs, organ, gospel style backing singers, three guitarists, drummer and Pierce holding court on his stool facing the band is how it looks and sounds. The lyrics of the new songs are soul and gospel inspired as ever with songs about a girl called Mary, talk of souls bring saved and the connection to Pierce’s old band Spacemen 3 is clear when the band finish with ‘Take Me To The Other Side’. You can watch ‘Hey Jane’ and ‘So Long Pretty Things’ via The Guardian.
The penultimate set of Other Voices 10 is also the one that looks to be the most divisive on paper. SBTRKT’s self-titled debut album this year confirmed a electronic subgenre-shifting talent in Aaron Jerome but would it really in a church?
The answer was very quickly established as yes. Easily. Running a trail between post-dubstep, soul, house and synth-based rhythms, the set was an upbeat danceable one. The collection of equipment on the table means there’s plenty of knob twiddling but Jerome regularly jumps from the table to the drums beside it. The other truly live aspect is Sampha, the singer who has joined SBTKRT both live and on record. His soul-filled voice keeps to the spirit of the festival as well as twisting, turning and leading on songs like ‘Right Thing To Do’ and ‘The Coldest Stare’ both of which end in a tropical dub workout. Without Little Dragon singer Yukimi Nagano present to sing ‘Wildfire’, the pair use her voice as a workout point for big drum rhythms and synth additions. It may have been seating in the church but there was plenty of pew dancing and head nodding. For many people who were previously unaware, SBTRKT was the surprise set of the weekend.
We end with a promising new talent and one of the most visually interesting performers of the week. King Charles’ bouffant hair, waxed moustache and white suit certainly gives him the look. His set of self-described “glam pop” is a nice breather of whimsical chamber simple pop songs. It would have been nice to see Charles put the guitar down and throw himself around a bit but in songs like ‘Love Lust’, ‘Bam Bam’ and ‘Mississippi Isabel’, he’s got a trio of potential festival singalongs.
Photos: James Goulden.
Tags: Ben Howard, King Charles, SBTRKT, Spiritualized, Wild Beasts
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December 4th, 2011
Saturday night and Dingle town is buzzing. It’s the third of the four nights of recordings in the church. Previous night’s guest Mick Flannery has Foxy John’s rammed with his music trail set and the impending live streams from St. James’ Church mean that the pub actually has queues outside.
No such problems for those who are lucky enough to have won one of the many competitions to be in the church. If they needed any cobwebs blown away, Band Of Skulls were the band to do it. The Southampton rockers took the stage on night three to deliver a five-song set of fiery rock ‘n’ roll. The devil’s music in a church with songs called ‘The Devil Takes Care Of His Own’?. Sounds just what’s needed. Low down, dirty bluesy guitar riffs, big drums and lots of dramatic stop / starts, Band Of Skulls’ set was steeped in the history of rock music in the same way that the second guest is steeping in the tradition of the British folk troubadour. Frank Turner sold all his possessions and went wandering with just a guitar in hand and seven years later, he’s racked up over a 1000 solo shows.
A smiley tall man with a commanding presence, Turner visited Dingle for approximately three hours after flying there from Berlin in the morning. While he was here, he found time to play a song about his grandmother, a song for a good friend (“Seeing as we’re in a church, I thought it ‘d be nice to do a song about drugs.”) and an ode to his hometown of Winchester, ‘Wessex Boy’ from his latest album England Keep My Bones. He finishes with a cover of Loudon Wainwright III’s cheeky ‘Motel Blues’, a tawdry tale of singer/groupie dynamics and with that he’s out he door and in a cab on his way back to mainland Europe for more nomadic guitar-laden travels and the spreading of the word of Frank Turner.
What happened next was rather special. Having suffered two brain hemorrhages in 2005, former Orange Juice frontman and solo artist in his own right Edwyn Collins was left with weakness in his right side and impairment of communication ability. His wife and manager Grace Maxwell helped him to read, write and speak again and for a while his only phrases were “yes”, “no”, “Grace Maxwell” and “the possibilities are endless”. He learned to sing once again but his physical impairment means he may never play guitar again. Not that it stopped him releasing two albums since his misfortune. In a magic and inspiring set in the church, Collins played songs from his two recent LPs Home Again and Losing Sleep backed by two acoustic guitarists. The set was emotional one. His wife Grace watched Edwyn perform beaming with pride and encouraging him throughout. He played Orange Juice’s 1982 breakthrough hit ‘Rip It Up’ as well as poignant numbers ‘Low Expectations, ‘Searching For The Truth’ and his most well-known hit ‘A Girl Like You’ – still an amazing pop song. Collins clearly enjoyed himself immensely: he played harmonica, rarely consulted his lyric book, laughed a lot and relished the guitar solos. A touching experience that was met with a standing ovation.
The night finishes with an ensemble cast. Cherry Ghost are a Bolton band of folk musicians who have been playing together since 2005. You may know their ‘People Help The People’ single which was most recently covered by up and coming singer Birdy. Tonight’s performance has a collective feel. They are joined by close friend and collaborator Jimi Goodwin of Doves. Both are good friends with Elbow who recommended that the band play here (even ringing our host Philip King on the night to see how things were going). The set was a pleasant one of gentle symphonic songs adorned with bluesy slide guitar, harp and synths including early hit ‘Mathematics’, the church-suitable ‘My God Betrays’ and songs from the band’s second LP Beneath This Burning Shoreline. Doves’ singer Goodwin joins the band for the remainder of the set and they play works in progress from his own solo forthcoming LP with ‘The Panic Tree’ and ‘Didsbury Girl’ being the standouts. There’s still time though for an edifying solo song from the harpist Esther Swift called ‘Stillness Of The Night Time’ and a cover of saxophonist Jim Pepper’s ‘Witchi-Tai-To’ to finish. With tomorrow promising sets from Wild Beasts, SBTRKT, Spiritualized and others, some rest is required but not received as the town pulls us back into its pubs and bars for some post-show chatter.
Tags: Band of Skulls, Cherry Ghost, Edwyn Collins, Frank Turner, Other Voices
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December 3rd, 2011
A rain-soaked day and night means that there is scant little else to do than explore Dingle town’s fine pubs. That means visiting establishments like Foxy John’s which doubles as a hardware and bike shop, Currans which does a nice line of men’s nightshirts and tweed caps, Dick Mack’s intimate wooden haberdashery and bar and An Droichead Beag where last night’s newbies Little Green Cars play a power out acoustic set to a full back bar.
Just up the road, St. James Church’s second night of hosting Other Voices broadcasts has a very fitting theme, deliberate or not. Night two is all about the voice and the myriad ways that singers can express themselves. The brisk-paced lineup begins with Blarney-born singer songwriter Mick Flannery who is introduced by series producer, host and fellow county man Philip King with simply “Some Cork people speak more than others”. To call Flannery laconic would be an understatement. His voice is a low rumble, a soft mumble that says what it needs to say and no more. There’s an expressive range in that limitation though. Five songs from a forthcoming new album are played. No song titles are given, no explanation or talk is provided. Flannery serves the song and nothing more. Occasionally joined by a backing singer, the stone mason by day recalls Leonard Cohen and Chris Rea with his lived-in singing voice and when he trades his guitar for a piano, his gruff style is a nice counterpoint to the colourful piano chords.
James Vincent McMorrow’s short four song set consists of cover songs that were performed on Other Voices over the last nine years. His solo performance includes a bare falsetto-led version of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ which she performed on the same stage in 2006, a cover of Ryan Adam’s ‘Two’, his beautiful piano version of Steve Winwood’s ‘Higher Love’ which was recorded for the Headstrong charity and The National’s ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’ which McMorrow manages to lay the emotion of the song bare and highlights just what a high calibre of lyricist The National’s Matt Berninger is.
It’s James’ explanations of his choices which contextualise the performances. He remarks that ‘Love Is A Losing Game’ felt like a song that was a thousand years old, he laughs at Ryan Adam’s pre-song ruminations on Cher from 2007 and recounts the crazy snow-filled week he had around Other Voices 9 which started with him seeing The National performing in an icy Dublin city before a weekend that saw him travel from Cork to Paris to Dingle and back, battling weather and almost missed flights.
Tonight’s newcomer voice is timid, shy and quiet in deameanor but transforms on a stage into something which touches on the old greats. Al Spx is a Canadian singer who goes under the name of Cold Specks and she’ll certainly be one to watch in 2012 as Anna Calvi was last year here. Taking her main inspiration from the field recordings of Alan Lomax, her voice has a deep blues and rich folk heritage to it. The accompaniment of a five-strong band featuring brass, guitar, percussion, piano and cello was at times a distraction to the real pull of the show – Spx’s smokey timbre that is filled with soulful texture. Look out for her forthcoming album. A truly unique other voice.
The definition of an Other Voices veteran closes proceedings. Lisa Hannigan has travelled to Dingle every December for “musical winter camp” in her roles as a solo singer and twice as a Damien Rice collaborator. This time around it’s full-band versions of songs from her latest and second album Passenger. Hannigan has transformed from a timid singer into a confident performer. Swinging and swaying in her green dress with a banjo, ukelele or guitar, she couldn’t have looked much happier. The band are all seasoned players from Gavin Glass on organ to Ross Turner on drums to the latest addition, and last year’s Other Voices performer John Smith who has found a perfect role for his considerable guitar and voice talent as was demonstrated by his more than capable duet with Lisa on ‘O Sleep’ (which is performed by Ray Lamontagne on the album). Other highlights include the interweaving fingerpicking of ‘Little Bird’, Lisa noticing her rock ‘n’ roll pit sweats and admonishing the cameraman light-heartedly for operating ‘pit cam’ and the aforementioned upbeat hoedown swaying of ‘Knots’.
Photos: James Goulden.
Tags: Cold Specks, James Vincent McMorrow, Lisa Hannigan, Mick Flannery
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