NEWMUSIC · 2013-05-11 · Rudimental wereblown awayafter workingwith Emeli,below ALONG with...
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3 3 2.5 4.5 LITTLE BOOTS Nocturnes ALISON MOYET The Minutes PATTY GRIFFIN American Kid LADY ANTEBELLUM Golden BBC Sound of 2009 Victoria Hesketh, aka Little Boots, suffered the indignity of being not quite the Next Big Thing. Her hyped debut Hands was spar- kly dance-pop but she was eclipsed by Lady Gaga and Florence. Nocturnes is sleeker and more pol- ished, produced by Tim Goldswor- thy, whose influence can be heard on electro workout Shake. Standout track Motorway has the icy detachment of Saint Etienne, but elsewhere too many tracks stray into Euro pop territory. JS IN possession of an all-American wholesomeness, this country-pop trio are bound to be met with suspi- cion by your average cynical Brit. Their back catalogue mostly trun- dles safely along, with the occasional trill of a mandolin or hollow shout of ‘yee-haw!’ to confirm them as authen- tic country stars. Admittedly Golden has a couple of guilty pleasures – Downtown and Ain’t Pretty to be precise – but for the most part these tracks are samey and dull. PC NEWMUSIC THIS is Moyet’s eighth solo album and comes at a stage in her career when she could have rested on her creative laurels rather than veering off into the admirably unfamiliar. Producer Guy Sigsworth dips in and out of a sprawling range of styles with varying degrees of success. While pairing her deep voice with a dubstep sub bass on Apple Kisses was a clear mistake, redeem- ing moments in this mixed bagtracks include synth-pop bal- lad Filigree. PC FEEL THE LOVE . . . Rudimental were blown away after working with Emeli, below ALONG with Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch, Griffin is one of the queens of alt-country. She’s also the new flame of our own Robert Plant. Written in memory of her beloved father, this gorgeous, understated album finds her voice pure and true and coming straight from the heart. She joined Plant in his Band Of Joy and the Led Zep singer adds rich vocal texture to three songs here including delicately poised Ohio. But they’re just part of a magnificent whole. SC Tijuana Bibles WHO: Tony Costello (vocals/gui- tar), James Brannigan (guitar), Behn Cross (bass), Mikey Dor- nan (drums) WHERE: Glasgow FOR FANS OF: The Black Keys, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Doors JIM SAYS: “Thought Tijuana Bibles were amazing. Great stage presence and some cool songs. Remind me of BRMC. Ones to watch.” More often than not, 140 char- acters aren’t enough to do a band justice, but I had to share those words on Twitter in March. I’d just seen Tijuana Bibles live for the first time, supporting another of my current favourites The Velveteen Saints. Their gritty indie rock ’n’ roll does take its lead from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, but if my character count had allowed I’d have chucked some other names in. The Doors and Queens Of The Stone Age maybe. I’d played the lead track from their EP Wild River several times on the radio so it was a delight to discover that they really are the real deal. I now hear the recording in a different context after having seen them play. As I listen I can picture the performance. The bearded pair, Behn and James, either side of Tony, and Mikey pounding the drums. All the rock moves are there, but it comes across in an organic way. It seems effortless. Tony said: “There are a lot of bands we admire but we don’t particularly concern ourselves with what they are doing. We’re very much in our little bubble. “We recently moved into a flat together to continue along that road and write as much as pos- sible. I suppose there can’t be too many bands that are able to put up with each other every second of the day.” With the line-up completed just six months ago, they’ve come bouncing out of the traps with the debut EP. Mikey said: “We co-produced it with Thomas McNeice at Rub- bergum Studios. “He produced Kassidy and plays bass with Gang of Four so we were really excited to work with him. When we put together the track listing for the EP we were conscious of the fact that each of the four songs sound dif- ferent from the others. “But we feel we’ve managed to capture an atmosphere and energy within the Wild River EP that flows more like an album rather than a showcase of four separate songs.” MORE: facebook.com/tijuanabi blesofficial Jim will be playing Tijuana Bibles on In:Demand Uncut this Sunday from 7pm on Clyde 1, Forth One, Northsound 1, Radio Borders, Tay FM, West FM & West Sound FM. indemandscot land.co.uk Q Photo credit Paul Wilkie By CHRIS SWEENEY EVERYONE and their uncle seems to be a fan of Emeli Sande right now. But the chart-topping diva is also a fan — of Hackney drum ’n’ bass squad Rudimental. They even did two songs together but both have been kept low-key on purpose. One quarter of the gang, Piers Agget, said: “We were supporting Maverick Sabre at the Brixton Academy last year. “Emeli came down to see us which was quite a compliment. “She was saying how big a fan of our music she was — we told her we were massive fans of her and it would be great to get in the studio. “Then we managed to meet up at the Brit nominations, she was up for like five and we got Best Single. “Right after that, we all went outside, got in a cab and went straight to the stu- dio to make those two tracks. “It was a real magical moment, she’s such a great songwriter — we played the songs to her and we co-wrote them in a couple of hours.” The tracks are on the group’s debut Home — currently sitting at number one. But they purposely didn’t use them as singles to cash in on Emeli’s success — with her now currently being the biggest selling British act. Pumping Piers said: “We always said, we’re not going to go for the obvi- ous pop stars. We didn’t want to do it for that. “In the case of Emeli, we really didn’t do it for any other reason than she sounds brilliant and sings great. “She’s a like-minded person of soulful music, that’s why we got on and made some good tracks. “If it sounds right, that’s what matters.” As well as crafting their sound, the lads also have a message to send out. The guys — Piers, Kesi Dryden, Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith — want to tackle stereotypes. They know that Hackney in East London is often portrayed as a tough, violent area. But Piers admitted he had the SAME view of Glasgow — before he came on tour recently. He said: “Before going to Glas- gow, I heard it was the stab capi- tal of the UK. “And it’s like, I go there, meet the most amazing people and have one of the best nights out I’ve ever had. “What we’re about is showing there’s positivity in what people might perceive as hopeless cases. “You have choices in life and luckily we had the support of our families to direct us and let us fulfil our dreams. “But a lot of young people don’t get that in Hackney or in other cities. “Growing up there, I’d walk down the street, there’d be reggae pumping out of one window, Irish folk at the next house, Indian music out of another then jungle coming out of my sister’s bed- room. “We constantly had different cul- tures and that’s what our album is about — all those influences on us. It’s not necessarily just about Hackney, it’s about there being good things in communities that people at first think are bad.” The success of Home — which beat releases from heavyweights like Michael Buble and Will.I.Am — was no fluke. The boys road-tested the tracks live — even recording some of it at gigs. Piers, 26, raved: “We’ve been liv- ing in the clouds for the past couple of weeks, just buzzing off the success. “You definitely get a sense of accomplishment because we worked so hard to make the album the best it can be. “It’s so nice to know that people are buying into the band and there’s more to us than hit sin- gles. It’s an actual body of work we’ve got and we’re here to stay. The album was a year and a half in the making. “We would trial tracks live on crowds. Then we’d work out new ideas on stage. “We even recorded a lot of the parts for our single Waiting All Night live at the gig in O2 in London. Proper “It’s been a rollercoaster, we only ever had a couple of days in the studio each time. “At the same time, we wanted to make sure it was all sounding wicked. “Everything seemed to be well received. We’re a proper band playing instruments, we ain’t got the laptops on stage. It was more about working out structures and ideas to make the songs better. “We’ve been touring all this music that no one had heard. “So sometimes they didn’t know it but they never didn’t like it, you could tell they were feeling it. “That’s how we chose Waiting All Night as the single, we were on the Plan B tour and people started singing back the chorus after the third time they heard it.” It’s hard to believe that they’ve not even been doing gigs for a year. In that time they’ve notched up two No1 singles and an album. Right now they’re just finishing off a UK tour before getting stuck into festival season — including a slot at T in the Park — with more touring to come later on in the year. Peirs said: “This tour sold out quite early and we’ve had people queuing outside venues like they do for JLS or Take That. We’re normal guys from Hackney. “We didn’t plan to have peo- ple queue for us like that. “We got thrown in the deep end as our single Feel The Love did well and went to num- ber one last year. Amazing “Since then we’ve been buzz- ing off doing the live gigs — we have a drummer now and another vocalist, there’s nine of us on this tour which started up in Glasgow. That was an amazing night, it was sweaty and the crowd were just nuts. But we only started last summer, so we’ve only been doing live stuff for not even a year — but we’re in a really good place. “For me, it’s been since I was 13 wanting to be a pro- ducer. “Never did I think I’d be an artist and in a band that can have their own record. “We’re really into the Rudi- mental sound, we work well together as a team and bounce off each other. “There’s no bosses between the four of us. “It’s been our dream to do this for years.” scotsfeats@ the-sun.co.uk By JIM GELLATLY Friday, May 10, 2013 55 1S
Transcript of NEWMUSIC · 2013-05-11 · Rudimental wereblown awayafter workingwith Emeli,below ALONG with...
3
3 2.5
4.5LITTLE BOOTSNocturnes
ALISONMOYETTheMinutes
PATTYGRIFFINAmerican Kid
LADYANTEBELLUMGolden
BBC Sound of 2009 Victoria Hesketh,aka Little Boots, suffered the indignityof being not quite the Next Big Thing.Her hyped debut Hands was spar-
kly dance-pop but she was eclipsedby Lady Gaga and Florence.Nocturnes is sleeker and more pol-
ished, produced by Tim Goldswor-thy, whose influence can be heardon electro workout Shake. Standouttrack Motorway hasthe icy detachment ofSaint Etienne, butelsewhere too manytracks stray into Europop territory. JS
IN possession of an all-Americanwholesomeness, this country-poptrio are bound to be met with suspi-cion by your average cynical Brit.Their back catalogue mostly trun-
dles safely along, with the occasionaltrill of a mandolin or hollow shout of‘yee-haw!’ to confirm them as authen-tic country stars.Admittedly Golden has a couple of
guilty pleasures –Downtown and Ain’tPretty to be precise –but for the most partthese tracks aresamey and dull. PC
NEWMUSIC
THIS is Moyet’s eighth solo albumand comes at a stage in her careerwhen she could have rested on hercreative laurels rather than veering offinto the admirably unfamiliar.Producer Guy Sigsworth dips in
and out of a sprawling range of styleswith varying degrees of success.While pairing her deep voice with a
dubstep sub bass onApple Kisses was aclear mistake, redeem-ing moments in thismixed bagtracksinclude synth-pop bal-lad Filigree. PC
FEEL THELOVE . . .Rudimentalwere blownaway afterworking withEmeli, below
ALONG with Emmylou Harris andGillian Welch, Griffin is one of thequeens of alt-country. She’s also thenew flame of our own Robert Plant.Written in memory of her beloved
father, this gorgeous, understatedalbum finds her voice pure and trueand coming straight from the heart.She joined Plant in his Band Of
Joy and the Led Zep singer addsrich vocal texture tothree songs hereincluding delicatelypoised Ohio. Butthey’re just part of amagnificent whole.SC
Tijuana BiblesWHO: Tony Costello (vocals/gui-tar), James Brannigan (guitar),Behn Cross (bass), Mikey Dor-nan (drums)WHERE: GlasgowFOR FANS OF: The Black Keys,Black Rebel Motorcycle Club,The DoorsJIM SAYS: “Thought TijuanaBibles were amazing. Greatstage presence and some coolsongs. Remind me of BRMC.Ones to watch.”More often than not, 140 char-
acters aren’t enough to do aband justice, but I had to sharethose words on Twitter inMarch.I’d just seen Tijuana Bibles
live for the first time, supportinganother of my current favouritesThe Velveteen Saints.Their gritty indie rock ’n’ roll
does take its lead from BlackRebel Motorcycle Club, but ifmy character count had allowedI’d have chucked some othernames in.The Doors and Queens Of
The Stone Age maybe.I’d played the lead track from
their EP Wild River several timeson the radio so it was a delightto discover that they really arethe real deal.I now hear the recording in a
different context after havingseen them play. As I listen I canpicture the performance.The bearded pair, Behn and
James, either side of Tony, andMikey pounding the drums. All
the rock moves are there, but itcomes across in an organicway. It seems effortless.Tony said: “There are a lot of
bands we admire but we don’tparticularly concern ourselveswith what they are doing. We’revery much in our little bubble.“We recently moved into a flat
together to continue along thatroad and write as much as pos-sible. I suppose there can’t betoo many bands that are able toput up with each other everysecond of the day.”With the line-up completed
just six months ago, they’vecome bouncing out of the trapswith the debut EP.Mikey said: “We co-produced
it with Thomas McNeice at Rub-bergum Studios.“He produced Kassidy and
plays bass with Gang of Four sowe were really excited to workwith him. When we put togetherthe track listing for the EP wewere conscious of the fact thateach of the four songs sound dif-ferent from the others.“But we feel we’ve managed
to capture an atmosphere andenergy within the Wild River EPthat flows more like an albumrather than a showcase of fourseparate songs.”MORE: facebook.com/tijuanabiblesofficialJim will be playing Tijuana
Bibles on In:Demand Uncut thisSunday from 7pm on Clyde 1,Forth One, Northsound 1, RadioBorders, Tay FM, West FM &West Sound FM. indemandscotland.co.ukQ Photo credit Paul Wilkie
By CHRIS SWEENEY
EVERYONE and theiruncle seems to be afan of Emeli Sanderight now.But the chart-topping diva isalso a fan — of Hackney drum’n’ bass squad Rudimental.They even did two songstogether but both have been keptlow-key on purpose.One quarter of the gang, PiersAgget, said: “We were supportingMaverick Sabre at the BrixtonAcademy last year.“Emeli came down to see uswhich was quite a compliment.“She was saying how big a fanof our music she was — we toldher we were massive fans of herand it would be great to get inthe studio.“Then we managed to meet upat the Brit nominations, she wasup for like five and we gotBest Single.“Right after that, we allwent outside, got in a caband went straight to the stu-dio to make those twotracks.“It was a real magicalmoment, she’s such a greatsongwriter — we played thesongs to her and we co-wrotethem in a couple of hours.”The tracks are on the group’sdebut Home — currently sitting atnumber one.But they purposely didn’t usethem as singles to cash in onEmeli’s success — with her nowcurrently being the biggest sellingBritish act.
PumpingPiers said: “We always said,we’re not going to go for the obvi-ous pop stars. We didn’t want todo it for that.“In the case of Emeli, we reallydidn’t do it for any other reasonthan she sounds brilliant andsings great.“She’s a like-minded person ofsoulful music, that’s why we goton and made some good tracks.“If it sounds right, that’s whatmatters.”As well as crafting their sound,the lads also have a message tosend out.The guys — Piers, Kesi Dryden,Amir Amor and DJ Locksmith —want to tackle stereotypes.They know that Hackney inEast London is often portrayed asa tough, violent area.But Piers admitted he had theSAME view of Glasgow — beforehe came on tour recently.He said: “Before going to Glas-gow, I heard it was the stab capi-tal of the UK.“And it’s like, I go there, meetthe most amazing people and haveone of the best nights out I’veever had.“What we’re about is showingthere’s positivity in what peoplemight perceive as hopeless cases.“You have choices in life andluckily we had the support of ourfamilies to direct us and let usfulfil our dreams.“But a lot of young people don’tget that in Hackney or in othercities.“Growing up there, I’d walkdown the street, there’d be reggaepumping out of one window, Irishfolk at the next house, Indianmusic out of another then junglecoming out of my sister’s bed-room.“We constantly had different cul-tures and that’s what our album
is about — all those influences onus. It’s not necessarily just aboutHackney, it’s about there beinggood things in communities thatpeople at first think are bad.”The success of Home — whichbeat releases from heavyweightslike Michael Buble and Will.I.Am— was no fluke.The boys road-tested the trackslive — even recording some of itat gigs.Piers, 26, raved: “We’ve been liv-ing in the clouds for the pastcouple of weeks, just buzzing offthe success.“You definitely get a sense ofaccomplishment because weworked so hard to make thealbum the best it can be.“It’s so nice to know that peopleare buying into the band andthere’s more to us than hit sin-
gles. It’s an actual body of workwe’ve got and we’re here to stay.The album was a year and a halfin the making.“We would trial tracks live oncrowds. Then we’d work out newideas on stage.“We even recorded a lot of theparts for our single Waiting AllNight live at the gig in O2 inLondon.
Proper“It’s been a rollercoaster, weonly ever had a couple of days inthe studio each time.“At the same time, we wantedto make sure it was all soundingwicked.“Everything seemed to be wellreceived. We’re a proper bandplaying instruments, we ain’t got
the laptops on stage. It was moreabout working out structures andideas to make the songs better.“We’ve been touring all thismusic that no one had heard.“So sometimes they didn’t knowit but they never didn’t like it,you could tell they were feeling it.“That’s how we chose WaitingAll Night as the single, we wereon the Plan B tour and peoplestarted singing back the chorusafter the third time they heard it.”It’s hard to believe that they’venot even been doing gigs for ayear. In that time they’ve notchedup two No1 singles and an album.Right now they’re just finishingoff a UK tour before getting stuckinto festival season — including aslot at T in the Park — with moretouring to come later on in the
year. Peirs said: “This tour soldout quite early and we’ve hadpeople queuing outside venueslike they do for JLS or TakeThat. We’re normal guys fromHackney.“We didn’t plan to have peo-ple queue for us like that.“We got thrown in the deepend as our single Feel TheLove did well and went to num-ber one last year.
Amazing“Since then we’ve been buzz-ing off doing the live gigs — wehave a drummer now andanother vocalist, there’s nine ofus on this tour which startedup in Glasgow.That was an amazing night,it was sweaty and the crowd
were just nuts. But we onlystarted last summer, so we’veonly been doing live stuff fornot even a year — but we’re ina really good place.“For me, it’s been since Iwas 13 wanting to be a pro-ducer.“Never did I think I’d be anartist and in a band that canhave their own record.“We’re really into the Rudi-mental sound, we work welltogether as a team andbounce off each other.“There’s no bossesbetween the four of us.“It’s been our dreamto do this foryears.”
By JIMGELLATLY
Friday, May 10, 2013 551S
