NO JAZZ JO!

Good Afternoon,

A mixture of exams, revision and what me and my course mate have termed 'post-dissertation mania' (#postdissertationmania) have provided 'valid' excuses for my lack of blogging over the past month. But now I'm back with a vengeance and was provided with the perfect blogging topic last Friday night in Sheffield's homely West End pub.

The 18-year-old me would have been terrifically disappointed with the 21-year-old me last Friday. I arrived at the West End at 9pm sharp, ordered myself a small lemonade (all the while sighing with gratitude at the lowly £1.05 price tag) and had my bag all ready and prepared for a late-night trip to the library whenever it was deemed acceptable for me to take my leave. The 21-year-old me, however, was unprepared for what was to come as two and a half hours later I remained rooted in the same spot, enthralled by one of the rangiest and most captivating free live performances I've ever had the pleasure of  witnessing.

No Jazz Jo are a group of friends from Sheffield Uni (the bassist of which is a good friend of mine and a genuinely all-round good bloke) who formed with the simple intention of getting people moving. They play majority covers infused with a dash of funk and a drop of soul but do have some of their own stuff which is well worth a listen - I've linked my personal favourites 'How It Was' and 'Brace Yourself' below. They're unique in the simple range of artists and genres they cover, their lengthy yet never-a-dull-moment sets and also the nature of their instrumental make-up - a singer, two guitarists, a bassist, keyboardist and the recent inspired edition of a saxophonist. In sadder news, last week's West End gig could be NJJs last for quite a while with the majority of them graduating and moving on to greener pastures or possibly shitter pastures if their expectations of post-uni life are anything like mine.

For now this post can leave you in no doubt that they were a joy to watch. Remembering the entirety of the set-list is tricky but some of my personal highlights included The Killers' 'Jenny was a Friend of Mine', RHCPs 'Dani California' and an old-school cover of Chuck Berry's signature tune 'Johnny B.Goode'. I was assured before the gig this was one of NJJ's finest and it didn't disappoint. While the first half of the set was greeted with mostly-nodded heads, following a quick interval and opportunity for all in attendance to return to the bar (I stingily clung to the last remaining morsels of my lemonade throughout) part two was met with a flurry of dancing and smiles with the room appearing to half in size and double in population.

All in all, a good night had by everyone and I strode to the library just before midnight with the spirit of NJJ right behind me, all the while being hounded by good old 18-year-old-me and his outspoken desire to drink the night away.

Don't they look friendly:

Will be back sporadically this month with the usual format. As usual if anyone has suggestions as to decent music in Yorkshire from whichever genre then you can just give me a shout on twitter, @goldbart1.

Cheers to all readers,

Max

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Farcical sports bullshit of the year... and Dead Sons

Ola,

Today's post begins in the form of a well-directed rant. Tomorrow evening sees the return of BBC Sports Personality of the Year, a rather exciting return seeing as this has probably been the greatest year for British sport since, well, ever, or certainly in my humble 21 years.  As a kid it used to be one of my favourite programmes and I'd spend hours scrutinizing the year's lists and trying to work out who was the most worthy of the award (I was a pretty boring child). I was over the moon when Flintoff won in 2005, and the sight of him receiving it, absolutely knackered at half 4 in the morning in Pakistan, was one which will stay with me for a while. 

However... 2006 saw Zara Phillips win and while I'm still undecided on the whole 'she obviously only won because she's a royal' line, it was an incredibly boring year. Does anyone really want to see a stupidly posh woman on a horse accepting what's meant to be Britain's most prestigious sporting award? Then came 2009, and Ryan Giggs won purely because he was nearing the end of his career and a hell of a lot of people in England support Man United. His 2009 was, by his standards, distinctly average, and then it turned out he was a massive massive cheating arsehole and no one even bothered to strip him of the award.

This year, choosing a winner is painfully impossible and therefore shouldn't be done. My nod might just about go to Wiggins but there's also the Olympic gold-medal winning poster girl, a wheelchair racer who won a stupid amount of golds (and has been blessed with classy nickname The Weirwolf), and lest we not forget a tennis player who got to the final of Wimbledon, won the US Open and also Olympic gold.

So basically it's now become kind of pointless, is hosted by three stupidly annoying people in the shape of Gary Lineker, Sue Barker and Clare effing Balding, and I urge everyone not to vote or, if you so choose, not to even watch. It's dead to me, which leads me on beautifully to band of the week Dead Sons (wow).

I first came across Dead Sons when I heard their song 'Shotgun Woman' on a CD given out by Jon McClure (the Reverend) at a Reverend and the Makers gig last summer. Dead Sons rose to prominence when they supported Arctic Monkeys at Don Valley a couple of summers ago, and since then they've developed a decent Yorkshire fan base. They call themselves desert rock, a refreshing genre which we don't hear too much about any more (the only other desert rock band I really like are led by the coolest ginger man in the world). They formed in 2010 alongside fellow Sheffielders The Backhanded Compliments and contain 2 ex-members of one of Yorkshire's finest, Milburn. At first listen they might sound like a ridiculous copycat of Arctic Monkeys but the desert rock aspect means the guitars are far darker and to be frank there should really be more music like this out there so I don't really see it as that much of an issue. 

Fun Fact of the day- for some reason which Wikipedia hasn't had the decency to clarify, 'Shotgun Woman' reached number two in the Turkish music charts and the band have a supposedly substantial following in the land of kebabs. I've put the aforementioned single at the bottom along with 'Hangman', a cracking track released for Bonfire night. They're also releasing an album early next year.

Finally, not quite Yorkshire- based, but my housemate insisted I popped The Courteeners new single in as well and it's quality. The rise and rise of Liam Fray and co. looks set to continue.

Cheers for reading,

Max

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Forced introductions ... and The Crookes

Guten Tag Meine Freunde.

I'm a 21 year old History student studying in the greatest city in the world i.e. Sheffield.

That's probably the first ever time the last part of that sentence has ever been written in the history of the internet but there you go, I'm a firm believer.The music scene here, and in Yorkshire as a whole, is absolutely cracking and ranges from a ridiculously popular underground scene to great gig venues and has produced some of the best bands of the past decade. People think that all Sheffield music has ever been good for is the Arctic Monkeys, Leeds with the Kaiser Chiefs etc etc.This couldn't be less true so I'm going to look to publish a weekly blog showcasing the best musical talent in Yorkshire.

I've started with the best of the northern converts, The Crookes. If anyone has any bands or acts they come across from Yorkshire then feel free to give us a shout on Twitter (@goldbart1) and I'll have a butchers. Any genre, it doesn't really matter.

 So, as already said, The Crookes are pretty much northern converts personified. A group of mates studying English Lit at Sheff Uni and originating from mysterious far off lands like Ipswich came to love their newly adopted city and formed a band where they could pen their man feelings on all things Yorkshire and all things literary. Their success has been barely matched by  bands of similar ilk in what's fast becoming a farcical industry (had they been around in the mid-noughties I'm convinced their success could have matched that of The Enemy or The Pigeon Detectives). They've even got their own cult underground following, The Bright Young Things, and have given birth to a new musical style known as 'New Pop'.

I reviewed their gig for Counterfeit mag last week and realised there was shit loads of truth in what people say about their live performances being the real key to their success.

Below I've linked probably their most famous track 'Backstreet Lovers', a vintage 'New Pop' song (although I have no idea what vintage 'New Pop' actually is). There's also one of the singles off their latest album for you to get your teeth into. There's something very Morriseyesque about the lead singer and both tracks are definitely worth a listen, along with most of their other stuff to be fair.

Till next week,

Max Goldbart

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