There's Snow Place Like Home... and Hey Sholay

Good Winter to all,

Well it's that time of year again. It seems that, for the near future, global warming has consigned us to about two days a year of snow and two weeks of slush and ice- such a very British problem. Now anyone who knows me remotely well will know that I'm a bit of a cynical, let's-stay-in-the-house-all-day kind of guy when it comes to snow but I refuse point blank to make this into a cynical post so instead I thought I'd point to a couple of observations I've made in my 21 winters of watching people in the snow.

First of all, oh my lord how we used to look forward to snow days when we were younger. It's only one day, maybe two at most, but the excitement that bubbles inside a person between the ages of 11 and 16 when the possibility of a random day off from school to frolic in the snow arises (especially considering I have to get up at 9 just one morning of the week and even then find it an absolute mission) is unfathomable. The moment the first drop falls and you're stood in the school courtyard, there is literally only one question to be asked- 'reckon we'll get a day off sir'??

 To my great dismay, yesterday I found myself checking my old school's website to see if the kids were going to be treated to a day of freezing their bits off in the park, and turns out they wouldn't have been disappointed. Personally I reckon teachers should grant kids a snow day a year regardless of how bad it is. It's only one day off and the morale boost for the rest of the week would be immeasurable, I should work for the Department of Education really.

Second of all, is it me or when the moment snow arrives does the traditional British phrasebook suddenly get bigger. Walking the snowy streets, you suddenly find yourself hearing new phrases being thrown about that simply wouldn't make sense in the middle of May. 'Will it settle' (or 'stick' as my housemate from the Midlands reliably informs me is her local lingo) is my personal favourite, referring to whether the snow will remain on the ground or melt. I mean, that phrase absolutely doesn't apply to anything ever and yet when snow comes around 90% of the entire population seem to be madly debating over whether it's going to 'settle' (or 'stick).

 Then there's the great lengths people will go to to describe the great lengths of snow they've witnessed. 'We've had six inches' is a common one, or even worse, ''Insert traditional English name's' got six inches'. Many an 80 year old biddy has uttered this phrase and not realised the ridiculous euphemistic connotations it offers up, especially as six inches seems to be the most common length mentioned and is also, apparently, the most common length of western penis size.

Yeah I think I'll stop there... this guy's definitely got more than six inches.

Hey Sholay have, in recent times, cemented themselves as one of the ultimate cult favourites of the Yorkshire music scene. Firstly, they gig furiously. Barely a month goes by when they can't be seen on the bill  of one of the cult venues around Sheffield and Leeds, most recently at the Library Theatre, Sheffield. For those of you lucky enough to have been at that show, or having seen them anywhere else for that matter, I hope to get round to it very soon and have only heard good things.

2012 has seen them make quite a breakthrough, with a hugely successful supporting slot for Sheffield sweethearts The Crookes at Queens Social Club, and more importantly the release of their debut album '((O))'. An odd name it must be said but the name is just a reflection of their seemingly weird and wonderful tastes in all things artistic. Their FB description goes as follows:

Hey Sholay are a five-piece group of musicians , filmmakers and artists from Sheffield and Leeds, who play a breed of psychedelic independent pop with a hint of the Northern lights captured in a jam jar.

The first two lines are rather ordinary but what the fuck they mean by 'Northern lights captured in a jam jar' is anyone's guess. Whatever it is, it works wonders, and is testament to the steep rise in popularity brought upon them in the past 12 months. Alt-J were arguably the biggest success story of 2012 and I believe that much of that success can be attributed to lead singer Joe Newman and his ridiculously quirky voice. To a lesser extent, the same can be attributed to Hey Sholay's lead vocalist (whom I have scoured the internet for the name of but have failed miserably). It strikes you from the first word of crowd-favourite 'Burning' and continues to resonate throughout the album. 

'Burning' is pure class, a song with a catchy enough chorus to remain in your head throughout the day but also one which doesn't bore easily. Other songs, mostly to be found off the album, are equally impressive and showcase the multiple sides and talents of this remarkable five-piece. 'Wishbone' is the album opener and is one of its many tracks that makes you wonder why Hey Sholay haven't acquired more of a fan-base outside of Yorkshire. It's another song which has all the makings of an indie classic but offers far more with every listen and the same can be said of the epic, and regular live closer, 'The Bears the Clocks the Bees' (FYI-  I didn't miss out the commas that's actually how the song is written on the tracklist). 

Those three are probably the highest in quality but to be honest I can safely say there isn't a bad song on '((O))' and it really does deserve more of a mainstream UK-wide reception than what it has so far gained. In a recent album review for Drowned in Sound, Journalist Robert Cooke opened with the line, 'Out there, somewhere, there's a parallel universe where Hey Sholay are selling out arenas, breaking America and dating women twice their age'. This statement rings truer and truer as the listener becomes more and more familiar with '((O))'.

A few weeks ago, these poor buggers had all their kit nicked from their van, including a large number of expensive customised gear, but their love for what they do shone through and they managed to finish what was a lengthy UK tour. How any man or woman could have a black enough heart to steal from these charming fellows is a tricky one to fathom. 

That's all for this week, as you can tell I'm pretty passionate about these guys, so if you get a minute give '((O))' a listen and you won't regret it. I had my first request last week for a band which I'm really fucking excited about so keep a lookout for that next Saturday.

Cheers as always for reading.

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Silver Linings... and Hot Since 82

Good Saturday,

'Every cloud has a silver lining' is a cracking phrase, definitely in my top ten. 2012 definitely could have been considered the year of the silver linings. The film 'Silver Linings Playbook' was released to critical acclaim and was nominated for six Oscars. A bit closer to home, my mates Whatsapp description became the Kendrick Lamarr lyric 'in every dark cloud there's a silver linin'' (the lack of a 'g' is very important). And yeah that's about it really. Should really query my mate over why he feels it necessary to have borrowed the wisdom of Kendrick Lamarr for his Whatsapp tag line.

Anywho, I started thinking about silver linings when, stood in Eurospar searching desperately for the cheapest toilet paper I could possibly find but needing to hurry if you catch my drift, I spotted out of the corner of my eye the Sun headline 'I should be dead but I stayed in bed'. At this point I'd like to publish a disclaimer  that I have never spent a penny on The Sun nor do I ever plan to, but who could resist a cheeky peak at a headline of such rhyming genius that even Kendrick Lamarr would be proud.

Intrigued, I read on and was witness to the tale of a crane-operator who overslept on Wednesday morning.Sounds quite dull I hear you mutter but this particular crane-operator was one Nicki Biagoni, who's crane stood next to a 52 storey building in Vauxhall struck by a helicopter earlier this week. The helicopter crash was a tragedy of national proportions and anyone watching BBC News at the time would, like me, have been visibly moved by the images beamed throughout the day. My thoughts go out to the families of the deceased, Peter Barnes and Matt Wood. Nicki had never used an alarm but relied on his four year old son Dino to wake him by jumping on his bed at around seven. Dino's extra hour of sleep on this particular day led to a chain of events which ended with Nicki rushing up the stairs of the building when the crash happened rather than being in the crane as he should have been.

In times of such tragedy, it's lovely to hear such a beautiful story. Nicki would most certainly have been killed had he got to work on time and his particular tale is definitive proof that at least the majority of clouds have silver linings.

Along with silver linings, 2012 was witness to a soaring rise in the popularity of house. Stuck in a typical YouTube hole the other day I came across the DJ Hot Since 82, heard his most popular track 'Knee Deep In Louise', became intrigued, and then even further intrigued to realise that he was from Leeds. Getting house or techno into this blog is a tricky task as the majority of quality acts tend to come from London or the South-West, but Hot Since 82 can compete with the very best even in a city that's not quite as entrenched in the house scene as the capital.

Finding information on 'Hot' has proved tricky. Neither his Facebook or Twitter even showcase his real name but reading down his FB page what it becomes apparent that his passion for what he does and the eternal gratitude he attributes to his fans. One particular post really stands out:

I better do this now before I get totally sideways and go AWOL in Mexico! Thank you thank you for such an amazing year, for anyone that came to a gig, bought a track, tweeted or showed any kind of support, you made my dreams come true :) happy new year x.


His steep rise has obviously come as quite of a shock to the man himself and it's great to see that it hasn't made any difference on the size of his head but  still has time for the thank yous. 'Knee Deep In Louise' is a vintage house tune, sharp vocals, a standout backing beat throughout and a decently funky bassline to match. 

He's also got great talent when it comes to re-works. The remix of Friendly Fires linked at the bottom of the page is an absolute treat. It takes great skill to convert a song by an indie/funk band cross-genre and make it appear so fluent but HS82 does it with ease. The added loops and samples suit the track perfectly and, as someone who's not too familiar with Friendly Fires, I would probably say it's an improvement on the original. Fun fact of the day- the Friendly Fires version is actually a cover of a track from 1981 by a German composer called Eberhard Schoener featuring Sting of all people.

I've also included another of his own songs, 'Planes and Trains', which is a bit more on the techno side  but equally as listenable. For a DJ, his range is mightily impressive and I can highly recommend him. His 2-track EP 'Forty Shorty' was released last month and is also a good listen.

Away from Yorkshire, I've been giving Todd Terje a proper listen this week. The Norweigan DJ provided the sample for Robbie William's 'Candy' from his own star track 'Eurodans' and has recently teamed up with fellow Nord Lindstrom to create a cracking new techno tune, 'Lanzarote'. More to come from them in the next few weeks and well worth a listen.

Thanks to everyone for reading, we've crossed the 700 barrier now and I'm incredibly grateful.

Cheers to all.

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Let's kick morons out of football... and Benjamin Francis Leftwich

Hi People,

Sporting theme once again this week. I know it was quite a few days ago now but I was mightily impressed to see footage last week of AC Milan's Kevin Prince-Boateng stopping play in protest against a racist section of fans.  He picked up the ball in a rage against fans of lower league side Pro Patria chanting whenever he got on the ball and kicked it towards them (unfortunately missing their leering heads by quite a distance). He then proceeded to lead his team off the pitch, with little objection from his manager or fellow players.

I've linked the video at the bottom of the page and have had a great chuckle at the antithesis of placing it directly above an acoustic number from Benjamin Francis Leftwich. The thought of the ginormous Boateng sat in a park on a sunny day next to a tree and bobbing his head slowly to Leftwich's languid melodies is greatly amusing.

First and foremost, I feel for the non-racist Pro Patria fans.They play in the fourth tier of Italian football and would have been looking forward to a rare home game against one of the biggest sides in the country only to have it spoiled by a bunch of absolute sub-humans. Italian football fans have been guilty more than most others for consistent racist chanting, as can be seen in the testimony from such ex-players as Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o, but that doesn't make them all guilty. It's a total embarrassment for the game and needs to be overcome quickly but this leads me on swiftly to my second point.

How the hell are we supposed to move on from this barbarism when the head of FIFA himself simply refuses to condone  racism. If anyone isn't yet familiar with Sepp Blatter, he is quite the character. He's had the top job in football since 1998 and yet takes underhand bribes from countries wanting to host tournaments (Qatar 2022? Are you fucking serious) and is also unashamedly sexist. A few years ago this actually happened, Blatter telling female footballers that they should be wearing 'tighter shorts' and 'play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball'. Yes, in the 21st century a male authority figure genuinely made these remarks. His attitude towards racism is equally despicable- in 2011 he said it could be overcome with a handshake and now he's strongly criticised Boateng for walking off. Even AC President Silvio Berlusconi praised Boateng's behaviour and he sleeps with prostitutes all the time for christs sake.

Surely, if racism in football can ever be overcome it's sensible to state that on every occasion a minority player feels he is being treated with disrespect he should have every right to lead his team off the pitch. Only in this way can fans learn that, if they behave in a racist manner, the football they so crave will be taken away from them. Or is this train of thought just a little bit too logical??

Anyway, here's a picture of the daft prick looking particularly daft.

On to better things, and Benjamin Francis Leftwich is certainly one of those. Been around for a couple of years now, this multi-talented folk singer from the depths of York cites amongst his influences Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and Arcade Fire, an odd mix.

His debut album Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm is an absolute treat. It debuted at number 35 in the UK charts, which isn't at all a bad effort seeing as Leftwich represents a genre horribly under-appreciated in the UK mainstream. The album itself is jam-packed with peaceful melodies, flowing riffs and intricate lyrics. 'Pictures' and 'Atlas Hands' are two personal highlights, both of which were released as singles and are simply beautiful. There is also the delightful 'Box Of Stones' which is complemented wonderfully by Leftwich's long-time collaborator Haley Hutchinson who is equally worth a listen (She is part of The Sorry Kisses, a two-some comprising her and Sam Forrest of Nine Black Alps and her dad played guitar with Bowie). These tracks conjure images of forgotten rural lands, places where I imagine Leftwich spent the majority of his childhood.

Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm has been followed up with an EP released a few weeks ago, entitled In The Open. It's of a similar style to the album but with a little bit more bite to it, there is the faint hint of electric guitar in record highlight 'Manchester Snow', which I've linked at the bottom of the page along with 'Pictures'. 

It's music like this which, for me, keeps the music business ticking over but is so terribly under-recognised. Leftwich at no point tries to sell out and almost seems to make a point within his wavy melodies of not trying to sound too 'complete' or 'defined'. Under scrutiny, his lyrics are fascinating and insightful but my personal favourite is one particular line in 'Pictures', 'If you find faith in your parent's God/ Don't be so quick to point out the flaws in it'. A simple lyric which yet may have taken a tremendous amount of thought to conjure and definitely one to leave you with.

Leftwich is embarking on a tour of North America in February then returning to the UK to play London, Glasgow, Birmingham and Newcastle. I for one am pretty excited.

Away from Yorkshire, I've been listening to Fever Ray's debut album Seven this week. She's part of popular Swedish electronic duo The Knife but for me this album supersedes anything they've released, definitely worth a listen.

Once again, thanks a lot for reading and you can always tweet me (@goldbart1) with opinions or music.

Max

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Traditional NYE Complications... and Henrik Schwarz

Happy New Year!

Shield your eyes from the first of what will hopefully be many blog posts of 2013. Hope everyone enjoyed the review blog last week, it took me a while to narrow my favourites down but I thought I picked a decently varied bunch.

Someone on my fb feed posted an interesting status on the 31st basically questioning why us merry westerners are perfectly happy to ridicule the Mayans and their calendar of doom and yet still go through the same rigmarole year after year with regards New Year's Eve. Having personally experienced many a horribly disappointing New Year's Eve since I entered adolescence (4 or 5 years ago we went to see the fireworks in London and I accidentally left all our drink plus my mates scarf on the tube and when we got back to the station a mad Albanian gentleman tried and pretty much succeeded in battering the shit out of all 6 of us) when the expectation to party like an absolute nutter set in, I can definitely see where she was coming from.

It's this form of immense pressure that lead groups to force themselves into ludicrously complicated plans which require inch-perfect timing so that you're at just the right level of drunkenness and merriment when 12 O'Clock rolls around. This year, we opted for a far more settled approach, New Years Eve in a flat with a decent amount of alcohol. I suppose at the end of the day it's about who you're with and not what you're doing.

Then, in true hipster style, while everyone sat at home nursing hangovers on New Years Day, we were out at Peckham Palais for Electric Minds, and I was witness to what may be one of the live electronic performances of the year by the magnificent Henrik Schwarz... which leads me on nicely to the subject of this week's blog.

Now as those perceptive readers may have picked up on, Henrik is most certainly not from Yorkshire, nor in fact is he even from the UK. However on a whim I checked out the notes on my iPhone the day after Peckham and found I'd written the three solitary words 'blog about Schwarz', which is kind of adorable and surely means I have to follow through with it. So if anyone thinks I'm selling out or have lost patience with the Yorkshire music scene (and to be honest I doubt whether anyone really gives too much of a shit), then we can call this the final edition of the 'end of year specials' and next week will definitely definitely be back to normal.


So first of all let's all marvel at just how much Henrik looks like Karl Pilkington.

Enough marvelling? Very good. Now, while the man on the right is a bumbling buffoon (albeit quite a funny one), the man on  the left is an absolute master of his art. At half past 4 in the morning of the 2nd January, having been out since 11, me and co. were unnervingly shattered and surrounded by such a high percentage of people on MD that, with all the darting tongues and chewing jawlines, I felt like I was stuck in a room with a bunch of lizard people. Nothing could have helped renew my energy more than an hour and a half from the aforementioned German.

What's really compelling about Henrik Schwarz is the astonishing variety of his sets. His genre is techno but his background and real passion is for jazz and soul and so weaved amongst his audacious techno beats and funky basslines are some fantastic re-works of tunes by the likes of Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers (see below). The Stevie Wonder edit is particularly scintillating, and was pulled out by Henrik as part of his encore, energising beyond belief for well past six in the morning. One of my definitive highlights of the night was watching Schwarz having to use minimal persuasive techniques to get the ludicrously large and dangerously bored security guard to let him play his final song, even though his set time had expired a while back. The man is passionate beyond belief, and that's what separates him from others in his category. While it's easy for a DJ to press a few buttons and let the music do the talking, Henrik Schwarz gets lost within his own sets and almost joins the audience in the enjoyment he gets out of them.

Schwarz has now been on the scene for a good number of years and was chosen to compile the 2010 DJ Kicks album, well worth a listen if you fancy a bit of procrastination. Along with 'Feeling You' and 'Who Is He', I've also linked his Boiler Room Berlin set, very similar to the one he went for in Peckham. Hope you like.

Way past 500 views now so thanks so much to everyone who's been reading.

Much love,

Max

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