LIVE :::: People in Planes [at] Borderline, Soho 15/12/08

The borderline tonight with its Christmas decorations and rustic period features make me feel like I’ve stumbled down the wrong street in Soho into a German beer festival. I was therefore pretty relieved when People in Planes appear in the quaint cellar venue.

Hailing from South Wales, the band is the continuation of the defunct Tetra Speldour maintaining their knack to create lush melody driven soundscapes with a quirky edge. Their new album ‘Beyond the Horizon’ whilst already available over the Atlantic since September will be released in the UK next year, although tonight’s set acted as a perfect preview.

From the start of the drilling guitar to ‘Better than Life’ the stage is awash with energy, guitarist Pete Roberts jumping and slinging his Flying V in rapture. ‘Mayday (M'Aidez)’ sounds emphatic with its chorus delivered powerfully by frontman Gareth Jones. Focus then returns to a song off 2006’s ‘As Far as the Eye Can See’ in the form of ‘Moth’ resulting in unanimous elation.

People in Planes are on top form, and the acoustic driven ‘Felsh and Blood’ has haunting undercurrents. Other new songs including single ‘Pretty Buildings’ show further signs of real maturity in the bands songwriting with an effective contrast between tender piano and wailing guitar.

When the band finish, an encore is promptly demanded and you can sense a very endearing humility of an act without any sign of a swollen ego. The bizarrely named ‘If you talk too much (My head will explode)’ is the song chosen, which is only the third song played not from their pending album.

Tonight People in Planes had enough sound to fill larger stages, constantly extruding an energy and passion that you infrequently see in bands playing these smaller venues.

9/10

http://www.peopleinplanes.com/
http://www.myspace.com/peopleinplanes

LIVE :::: The Rosie Taylor Project [at] 'Jingle All The Dayer' The Holy Trinity Church, Leeds. 13/12/08

The Rosie Taylor Project’s appealing harmonies fitted perfectly on stage in the friendly atmosphere of the Holy Trinity Church this December 13th. They calmly set up on stage and instantly looked comfortable, the members of the band are obviously close to one another and their music is proof.

The 6 piece have accomplished a great balance between country style guitar solos, meandering bass lines, group vocals and trumpet which gives an all important depth to the songs. The songwriting feels similar to that of Belle and Sebastian and is by no means ground breaking, but they are fitted together nicely and you are never left feeling bored, just happy or slightly depressed (in a good way). The lead, Jonny Davies’ subtle yet definite voice floats on top of the delicate interweaving melodies of the finger-style guitar solos, the appending trumpet blows and the sweet backing vocals produced by guitarist Jon Austin and trumpeter Sophie Barnes.

Personal favourite songs “A Good Cafe On George Street” and “The Sun On My Right” are evidence of some very talented songwriters. The Rosie Taylor Project has a lot more to give and hopefully will do so in the New Year. They are a consistently good band in their writing but perhaps need to break out of their comfort zone and make something new and exciting, which I believe is easily within their reach.

7/10

http://www.myspace.com/therosietaylorproject

LIVE :::: Jeniferever [at] Luminaire, Kilburn 12/12/08

Jeniferever’s ambient landscapes sweep panoramically through the Luminaire tonight, captivating the audience with soft and delicate charm. The sound in the venue tonight was very good, which certainly added to this effect. Fans of music along the lines of the ethereal Sigur Ros will certainly find here something to cherish. Previews of songs from their forthcoming sophomore album certainly show a band building on their strengths continuing on a similar path to 2006’s debut ‘Choose a Bright Morning’.

Kristofer Jönson, the bands frontman, sways in front of the microphone with his hushed voice floating above glassy glistening guitars. The mood feels retrospective, the haunting ‘Swimming Eyes’ being a personal favourite of a very strong set. Certain honesty shines through; the lyrics being in English does make their music easier to connect to than their aforementioned Scandinavian contemporary. However it remains to be seen whether Jeniferever are on the radar of TV executives, ever more frequently using their post-rock peers like Sigur Ros and Mogwai to soundtrack shows. Perhaps it would be a good thing if they weren’t, tonight demonstrates how their music should be enjoyed in the way the band intends. After all, it would feel terribly out of context to soundtrack a Bugatti Veyron on Top Gear.

9/10

http://www.myspace.com/jeniferever

LIVE :::: Prego [at] Luminaire, Kilburn 12/12/08

The Luminaire situated in Kilburn is a fantastic small venue. Its intimate enough to get very close to the band without feeling ever claustrophobic. There’s even a TV screen showing the stage if your view is restricted at the back.

Prego frontman Edd Simpson doesn’t appear to share the formidable eyebrows of his ‘Busted’ brother Charlie, and famous siblings aside Prego tonight show that they are worthy of attention on their own merit. Fusing elements of post-rock with overt melody, the band will appeal to a relatively wide variety of musical taste.

Tonight the band is a precursor for ambient post rock of Jeniferever, whom Edd says is a great privilege to share the stage with. With the headline act’s brilliance of carving monumental landscapes in music, they might have been a daunting act to open for, yet in their thirty minute slot Prego managed to hold their own.

Songs such as new single ‘Answers’ set the melodic vocals of Simpson to a large shoegazey guitar backdrop. It’s a convincing mix especially when it sounds as huge as it does live tonight, the drums booming ahead of sprawling guitars.

‘Cause and Resolve’ is another fine example of how this pop influence is at the forefront of Prego’s music with its chorus crescendo building up in front of accompanying ‘aahs’.

Tonight they did put on a good performance, commanded the stage well and really looked like they enjoyed what they were doing. The problem is that they don’t feel anywhere near as epic as headliners Jeniferever, and despite being good overall they don’t feel to show any moment of overriding pop brilliance. Definitely worth a look if an effective mix of pop and post rock influences sounds appealing but perhaps not if your looking for something more pure down either of those roads.

7/10

http://www.pregomusic.com/
http://www.myspace.com/pregomusic

SINGLE :::: The Kills - Tape Song / London Hates You

The Kills – Tape Song / London Hates You

Tape Song is the latest offering from Allison Mosshart and James Hince as the Kills. Mossharts voice, initially quite understated, seduces you through the song to a more urgent chorus with simple repeated lyrics, ‘You’ve got to go steal ahead’. Production seems to have stepped up a few notches for the single version, and makes it certainly one of their more radio friendly songs but at the expense of something very fundamental to the band. Their lofi charm and raw energy are diffused by extra layers such as added guitars, and it makes the song sound bit too polished for its own good. The B Side ‘London Hates You’ on the other hand feels like the band are back in their natural environment. It’s raw with fuzzy edges and hints at influences such as The Velvet Underground and PJ Harvey. Despite perhaps being overdressed, Tape Song has a good skeleton underneath and if your intrigued I would definitely recommend checking out the single’s parent album ‘Midnight Boom’.

7/10

http://www.thekills.tv/
http://www.myspace.com/thekills

02/12/08 The Hours @ Proud Galleries Camden

The Hours, Antony Genn and Martin Slattery, already have a pretty impressive CV between them boasting working with the Joe Strummer, Pulp, and Elastica. I guess I shouldn’t have been quite so surprised when Ronnie Wood bustles past me to try and get a bit nearer the front. Also in attendance was Serj from Kasabian.

The venue, Proud Galleries, tucked away inside the stables market in Camden is an amazing conversion of a stable block retaining most of its original features creating quite a surreal atmosphere. This continued when the band took to the stage in front a large Damien Hirst designed psycadelic skull whom is another one of the groups ‘Famous Friends’.

Taking to the stage the band played through a set of piano and guitar based Britpop starting with fan favourite, the anthemic single from their previous album ‘Ali in the Jungle’ which sets the room pulsating with energy. As the evening progresses its clear some songs are stronger than others. For example their new single, piano lead ‘See the Light’ contrastingly was far less upbeat and felt rather bloated. It seemed to meander around the point, trickling rather than flowing with the more ambient landscape of the song becoming gradually disinteresting.

Unfortunately there are countless other bands with this sort of sound and tonight The Hours didn’t really exhibit anything to distinguish them from the pack. There was energy and the performance very technically very good, but there wasn’t really a spark in their music to entice me.

4/10

http://www.thehours.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/thehours