Sunday 24 April 2011

Lesson learnt

“You can please some of the people all of the time,

... you can please all of the people some of the time,

... but you can’t please all of the people all of the time”

Sunday 17 April 2011

NoSnow/NoAlps ~ Beach Haven, Xemxija, 16/04/2011

{Published in The Times of Malta, 20/04/2011}

Far Into the Night


Having set foot in the Beachaven club in Xemxija last Saturday night, anyone would have been forgiven for thinking they had slipped through some subspace highway and landed back in the 1980s. For one the club’s décor, with its tacky print carpet, glass dance floor, and gaudy colour gel lighting. Adding to the impression was the crowd; a babbling horde of low cut vests, 20/20 horn rimmed glasses and artsy blazers, who could have easily been the extras for a music video featuring The Smiths.

The alternative gathering was in honour of local band NoSnow/NoAlps’ debut album launch. Recorded with producer David Vella at Temple Studios, RomantikPolitik has been a good two years in the making and is the band’s first physical release since 2007’s well received Just Rock EP.

The punters were certainly given value for money, as NSNA invited not one, but two bands to open up for them. New girl-band on the block Stolen Creep continued to establish their own following with a confident set showcasing their mock-Manchunian accents and Joy Division-esque riffs. Red Electrick were on what seems to be never-failing blistering form, even performing a brand new riff fest in the name of Picture Perfect.

It was close to 1a.m. by the time NSNA finally took to the stage, uniformed in black t-shirts with blood-red paper hearts pinned to their chests. The crowd flooded the dance floor and the four-piece kicked off with guaranteed fan pleaser Headset. Ignition failed to immediately spark however, Nick Morales in particular visibly not the frantic frontman of usual.

He shoved microphone stands out of the way after the opener to adjust his set-up, letting the audience know what he thought of the claustrophobically small stage. Other vocalist and synth player Sarah Falzon did her best to keep the mood jovial, thanking the crowd for the great turn out and urging all to buy the album. With everything apparently good to go, the band reconvened with latest single Far Into the Night (Without You), forcing the crowd to bounce their collective indie socks off.

New songs Dorothy’s Machines and Cherry Tree kept energy levels turned up to eleven, Morales gradually relaxing through feeding off the ensuing buzz in front of him. “I’m feeling better now. I was feeling very bad before, with all the stress,” he quickly added as an explanation, a sly smile flickering on his face.

NSNA have surely been dealing with copious amounts of stress of late. If completing their debut album wasn’t pressure enough, the band have filmed and released a new music video, organised and plugged their album launch, dealing with changing venues and the logistics of three bands’ gear on one stage in the meantime.

The live setting infused a punkier edge to NSNA, their inaccuracies and imperfections making for a more volatile and electric vibe. Elizabeth, I’s infectious poppy melodies decorated with glittering guitars and soft synths, sounded impressive on the night. Space-meets-Western instrumental Laika’s Revenge - presumably named after the Soviet space dog who was the first animal to travel and die in orbit around Earth – made for raucous fun.

The late start did work slightly against the band. By the time their set drew to a close, a substantial number of the audience had dispersed, although those remaining kept the noise thriving regardless. It was NSNA’s meticulous DIY approach to each aspect of the launch – gig, promotion, video, merchandise – that made the night a true success, and their ambition to give their fans real value for money was nothing short of admirable.

RomantikPolitik may have taken a few years to arrive, but it is well worth the wait. It marks a definite progression, incorporating even more stylistic subtleties into NSNA’s core indie and Ska soundscape, and will surely be the soundtrack of the summer for the local alternative scene.

Saturday 16 April 2011

Pete Molinari ~ Coach & Horses, B'Kara, 15/04/2011

{Published in The Times of Malta, 20/04/2011}

Questions of Authenticity


The fine line between being influenced and being a mimic is one Pete Molinari seems to enjoy treading. At times the inflections of Bob Dylan, Paul Simon and countless others are so vivid in Molinari’s music that he might as well be a kitschy tribute act. On the other hand, hat tipping from the likes of Jools Holland, Ray Davies and Paul Weller, suggests that Molinari does have an authentic voice somewhere amid the cacophony of his influences.

Currently on tour in support of his third album A Train Bound for Glory, the singer-songwriter of Maltese/Italian/Egyptian descent gave two low-key acoustic showcases last weekend at the Coach and Horses pub in B’Kara.

After mingling with friends outside in the cold and consuming sufficient amounts of cheap red wine, Molinari made his way to the small platform in the middle of the room armed with just his acoustic guitar and harmonica. He started the night with what are arguably two of his finest songs, Love Lies Bleeding and I Don’t Like the Man that I Am, and both sounded ethereal live; like folk songs that had been plucked ripe from the same tree of music consciousness Molinari’s heroes ate from. On this evidence it was not hard to see why Molinari has garnered such critical, if not commercial, acclaim.

In between songs Molinari rambled on about his recording experiences and travelling the States, his thick British accent jarring with his Americanised singing voice, gradually wearing away the illusion of authenticity.

“What ever happened to songs of substance? Guthrie, Williams and guys like that?” he half-asked the audience before playing Lest We Forget and Anthem For Doomed Youth, two songs inspired by poems of celebrated war poet Wilfred Owen. As far as protest songs go these cover well familiar ground as blood is shed in vain, freedom cannot be won, and the glorious dead need to be remembered.

With lyrics this watered down you couldn’t help but wonder whether these songs hold any sincere sentiment or are merely another conventional format Molinari felt the need to tap into in order to prove his worth. The singer certainly didn’t dwell on the morose subject for too long, quipping after “I’m also available for children parties.”

Molinari’s set continued to embrace songs from all of his physical releases, as well as ones to be featured on his upcoming album and cover versions. Wishing On the Moon, a romantically wistful tune inspired by Billie Holiday, was given its first public showing and rekindled the magic of earlier on. He finished off the night with a somewhat shoddy cover of The Beatles’ You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away, leaving most in the room still very confused as to what to make of the artist.

The undoing of Pete Molinari is that he wants to be an anachronism; a freewheelin’ beat romanticist strung out on the promises of Greenwich Village, who is both chronologically and geographically misplaced. From his Dylan voicing and mannerisms, garments straight out of a timeworn suitcase probably found in some retro clothing warehouse, and the constant allusions to America’s golden age of music, everything about Molinari apes vintage. But what made his heroes so significant was that while their formative sound was fashioned by a tradition, they were also not afraid to progress with the times, adding that mind-blowingly novel something to the musical spectrum in the process.

Unfortunately, Molinari seems to be hell-bent on recreating that which he was never even a part of first time round. This is not to say he doesn’t write some truly inspiring songs, but these are so laden with the spirit of his influences as to leave little or no aftertaste of Molinari himself whatsoever. In the end you will only be left thirsty for the real thing.

Monday 11 April 2011

James Blunt ~ Valletta Waterfront, 07/04/2011

{Published in The Times of Malta, 13/04/2011}

Have you ever met anyone who admits to being a James Blunt fan? Probably not. Yet with record sales exceeding the 15 million mark, there have to be some folks among us who are willingly buying his albums. And not all of these can be apathetic teens buying last minute birthday/mother’s day/Christmas presents (tick where applicable) for their mothers at discounted prices off Amazon.com either.

Most have learnt to keep their love of Blunt hushed for fear of being mocked and showered with ridicule. But there is comfort in numbers, and so with that in mind, James Blunt’s Maltese fan base and assorted tourists congregated last Thursday evening at Valletta Waterfront to witness the artist who was once voted more annoying than traffic wardens and paper cuts, in the flesh.

Shortly after 9p.m. James Blunt walked out on stage to the steady drumbeat and processed guitar riff intro of So Far Gone, waving and urging the crowd to clap along. The musicians sounded as polished as the studio recordings, while Blunt’s vocals came across as being surprisingly more vigorous live. He followed in quick succession with three more songs, Dangerous, Billy, and Wisemen, answering the lyric “Where are you now?” in the latter with a jocose “We’re in Malta baby!”

“I was going to tell you to sit down and listen to two or three hours of miserable songs, but many of you seem to have forgotten your chairs,” the Cherub faced singer-songwriter jested, before promising he would liven things up towards the end. “But for now here is what I do best, miserable songs,” he added as an introduction to his weepy, woeful hit single Carry You Home.

Seven songs in and the audience erupted with the loudest cheer of the concert thus far. No, this was not because All The Lost Souls album track I’ll Take Everything is a surprise favourite amongst the Maltese public, but rather as a result of the camera crew finally managing to get the big screen projection working. Up until that point the larger part of the audience was graced with a glaring screen of blue.

Camera related annoyances were to continue throughout the night. For the subsequent two songs the crew were still fiddling about with camera settings onscreen, and from then on the cameraman would every so often inexplicably lose his sense of direction altogether, suddenly focusing on Blunt’s shoes or the ever so exciting empty right side of the stage.

While there admittedly was a sprinkling of fans engaged with every doleful note swirling out of the tepid sound system, most present were merely counting down the minutes until the next hit single out of the handful came along. On Goodbye My Lover, the Maltese were dubbed the most in tune crowd Blunt had had the pleasure of hearing sing along to one of his songs. You’re Beautiful was met with a flurry of video phones in the air recording every precious second to share on Facebook later and force online friends into fits of shorthand envy. Yet these bouts of elation inadvertently highlighted the lulls of indifference in between.

Clearly Blunt is not the most rock ‘n’ roll soul in the music industry. This did not stop him from an abysmal attempt at crowd surfing however. He returned with his band for encores of Stay The Night and 1973, which sounded genuinely fun and entertaining, and then with a somewhat intriguing “See you all soon” the night came to a close. While Blunt would not have converted many unbelievers with his performance, it was a treat that the faithful relished fully.