Separated into two nine-track disks – ‘Humasyouhitch’ and ‘Sonofabitch’ – this debut album introduces the world to a 19-year-old lyricist of many shades and one ambitiously versatile musician at the same time. ‘Humasyouhitch’ is packed with the expected misadventures of a teenager in heat, with ‘Mel’s Song’ and ‘Jessica Alba’s Number’ light-heartedly dripping of acne-cream, odour issues and love unrequited. ‘Sonofabitch’, on the other hand, is darker and focuses on the breakdown of family life on tracks like ‘Mummy’s Been Drinking’ and ‘Problems’. Musically colourful and lyrically stinging, this album hints at an angry and witty voice for a new decade.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘MEL’S SONG’, ‘SHE’S GOT YOU’, ‘PROBLEMS’ FOR FANS OF: ARCTIC MONKEYS, THE STREETS, THE ENEMY
Belfast band The Beat Poets are making all the right noises in all the right places at present. From being championed by ATL to making ripples in New York, they are forging the right paths to accommodate their brand of radio-friendly guitar-driven rock. This EP captures a band unafraid to make big sounding guitar music with rousing choruses. All the early-U2 boxes are ticked, yes, but tracks like ‘The Making’ and ‘Race’ more than illustrate that The Beat Poets can do it well and there is a live audience out there who will respond more than positively to these tracks. Meanwhile, ‘Bloodline’, with its Stone Roses inspired acoustic flavourings and spirited vocals, suggests a diversity that will also serve them well.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘THE MAKING’, ‘BLOODLINE’ FOR FANS OF: MANSUN, MANIC STREET PREACHERS, U2
Apparently re-mastered from the original studio analogue tapes (as always, it’s difficult to tell) this expanded edition of an album first released 24 years ago has arrived at a time when all things 1980s are being revised, celebrated and, in some modern bands’ cases, recreated. With that in mind it would be fair to argue that this reissue is welcome more today than it would’ve been, say, four years ago. Fickle vogue issues aside, there should always be a time for the psychedelic rock of ‘She Sells Sanctuary’ and new-wave goth anthem ‘Rain’. This two-disk set is well packaged, with new notes by journalist James Brown. Aside from that, there is nothing new on offer here for Cult completists. Disk two features all the tracks from the album’s three 12” singles, including non-essential remixes, all tediously very much of their time. The ‘Love’ album deserves sole attention and appreciation here.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘NIRVANA’, ‘RAIN’, ‘SHE SELLS SANCTUARY’ FOR FANS OF: AC/DC, THE MISSION, SOUNDGARDEN
Inspired by Orwell’s vision of an authoritarian state, Find A Place To Be Safe sees CUTE create a momentum building marriage of atmospheric and thunderous guitars. Ambience, distortion and reverb flow upstream together in ‘Tranquility’, breaking only for a welcomed string interlude. ‘Decay’ and ‘Intelligence’ begin with light lashings of nocturnal keyboards but gather screaming guitars and even elements of trance along the way. With such sonic and multi-faceted instrumental music becoming increasingly prevalent, creating a location in the mind is key. Here we have 11 mini-movies that, despite their epic credentials, remain controlled and focused as songs while welcomingly indulging the mind’s eye of the listener. It’s a compelling journey that succeeds in finding beauty in such dark visions.
8/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘TRANQUILITY’, ‘FIND A PLACE TO BE SAFE’, ‘INTELLIGENCE’. FOR FANS OF: GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, MOGWAI, GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT.
It had been whispered and anticipated for a number of years, but in December it will finally become a reality. Horslips, the band who devised the template for Irish rock music in the 1970s, paving for way for U2 in the 1980s, the band who not only played around the world but in every corner of Ireland and the band regarded by many as the godfathers of Celtic Rock will return to the stage for their first full live shows in 29 years. They will be performing 2 shows: one in the O2 in Dublin on December 2 and a second in Belfast’s Odyssey on December 3. While these two massive arenas are a far cry from the dancehalls of the 1970s, it was three fans from those heady days that started the ball rolling in 2004 for what would eventually become a Horslips band reunion.
“If I have to blame anybody for Horslips getting back together it would be Jim Nelis, Stephen Ferris and Paul Callaghan,” laughs Horslips bassist and Ardboe native, Barry Devlin, speaking from Dublin. “They put on an exhibition of Horslips memorabilia at the Orchard Gallery in Derry in March, 2004. We all came along to see if the platforms would still fit, so to speak. When there we figured we’d have to do something. We ended up performing a short acoustic set, which topped off one amazing night.”
That night in Derry turned out to be the band’s first tentative steps into collaborating again. Soon after, they were in the studio recording ‘Roll Back’, an album of acoustic re-workings of some of their old tracks. Television appearances on ‘The Late Late Show’, ‘Other Voices’ and TG4 followed, as did a double DVD, ‘The Return of the Dancehall Sweethearts’, which documented Horslips’ career and included live footage. Demand for the band to perform some fully-fledged shows increased almost daily. Rumours circulated but nothing ever came to fruition, until this summer!
“For the last few years we’ve been looking at doing some proper live shows,” explains Barry. “Denis Desmond gave us great encouragement. The O2 was mentioned and I thought we’d never fill it. Denis reassured us that we would. So we announced the Dublin and Belfast shows last June. Unfortunately Eamon Carr couldn’t commit to the shows but it was Eamon who suggested that we get Ray Fean, guitarist Johnny’s brother, to take his place behind the drum kit.”
While Eamon could not commit to the two shows, he did rehearse with the band during the summer as they began to reacquaint themselves with their back catalogue. When Ray finally stepped in to take Eamon’s place, did it affect the harmony within the band?
“Not really,” says Barry. “It was interesting playing with someone we’ve never played with before but as Ray himself says, he feels like he has been in this band since he was ten because of Johnny. He’s a great man for a laugh and he’s certainly going to add a new dimension to the live shows.”
Ireland has changed a great deal since Horslips last played a full concert. The O2 and the Odyssey didn’t even exist back in the days when the band covered every nook and cranny of the country.
“I know and CDs didn’t exist either,” laughs Barry. “So much has changed. The biggest indoor gigs in Dublin in those days were at the National Stadium with 2,500 people. We’d also go to great places like Culdaff, Derry and, of course, the Astoria in Bundoran and those venues would always be packed out, too.”
Indeed, it appeared that Horslips, during this period, were flying the flag for an indigenous rock scene that previously didn’t exist in Ireland. Raising the dancehall roofs with their own material unavoidably made them stand out from the Showbands of the time.
“I loved the Showbands and still have a great love for them,” stresses Barry. “But original material did make us stand out. Remember, this was pre-U2 Ireland and there was no rock industry, as such. There was Thin Lizzy, Rory Gallagher and us and that was it. The way it worked back then was, you’d make it to the top in Ireland, you’d travel to England, live on porridge, record an album for Decca and then come home. We didn’t really have the appetite for that, so we decided to set up our own record label, design our own covers and basically kept everything based here in Ireland. It was a model that U2 followed soon after. The first gigs Bono and the rest of those lads went to were Horslips gigs. They saw that it could all be done right here. They could see that Irish kids didn’t have to look to Top of the Pops, they could have their own rock stars right here.”
Another aspect that made Horslips stand out was their willingness to play in the North when other acts refused to cross the border, particularly after the Miami Showband massacre in July 1975.
“It was a scary time, no doubt about it,” recalls Barry. “Up until that terrible day in July it was often thought that despite whatever madness was going on, the entertainment should be allowed continue. That myth was then shattered. We were nervous but bolshy. It took a lot of will but we always had a special affinity with the North. I’m a Tyrone man myself and we refused to be deterred from playing places we had a great identification with: places like Belfast, Derry and all over Donegal, places we related to.”
Anybody who ever attended a Horslips show now has the chance to do it all again next month in Dublin and Belfast. Barry has promised “the classics as people know them with one of two surprises along the way”.
He adds, “We’re hoping everyone will enjoy it. We’ve been blown away by how well the tickets have sold. The audience won’t be hearing revamped versions of the classics. They’ll hear them just as they are on albums like ‘The Tain’ and ‘Book of Invasions’, or as close as we can get to them in 2009. A friend recently asked me if we’re worried about forgetting some of the words. No chance! The crowd will be hopefully singing every word along with us, keeping us right,” laughs a very excited Barry.
2009 was the year of revisionism and not all of it pretty. The annoying ‘so bad it’s good’ brigade took it too far when lauding all things 1980s. It was just fun and games until it afforded the Kemp brothers the environment to reform the appallingly bland Spandau Ballet and claim some stake of relevance, which was something they never had!
It wasn’t all bad though. In 2009, towns were coming like ghost towns, clubs were being closed down and the people were getting angry. If there was one band people wanted to return amid this climate it was The Specials, and that’s just what we got!
Jerry Dammers was sadly not on board, but tonight that couldn’t dampen the genuine spirit, guts and tempo of ‘Gangsters’, ‘Rat Race’, ‘Too Much Too Young’, ‘Hey Little Rich Girl’, ‘Monkey Man’ and, of course, the most relevant song of last 30 years, ‘Ghost Town’. Rude boys, Rude girls, Punks, Skinheads, Mods and Rockers of all ages skanked together as The Specials conquered Belfast, and Terry Hall failed to strike a smile, which was just the way we wanted it!
As part of a tour promoting B-sides compilation ‘Swords’ the setlist tonight has been influenced accordingly, making it a frustrating evening for those who have dipped in and out of Morrissey’s world for the last 25 years but a sheer delight for those who have been loyal. The wit, passion and spitting venom of ‘Is It Really So Strange?’ ‘Teenage Dad On The Estate’ and ‘Ganglord’ reinforce the theory that as a Smith and solo artist, some of Morrissey’s finest moments are on the flipside of many a single.
Not everything works tonight. The band struggle with Smiths classic ‘Cemetry Gates’ and Morrissey, himself, appears totally disinterested in singing ‘How Soon Is Now?’ by this point and the inclusion of ‘Death At One’s Elbow’ is a timely reminder that his former band did not always walk on water. ‘This Charming Man’ continues to crunch, free from Marr’s iconic guitar-riff, and as ever divides the audience. They unite in frenzy for the anthemic ‘Irish Blood, English Heart’ and smooth rockabilly stomp of ‘The Loop’, and even ‘I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris’ gets a rapturous reaction in a week when all things Parisian have pierced the Irish heart.
He’s on top form as a raconteur, berating Aer Lingus (‘Aer Fungus’ he hisses); claiming he sent a lightweight Damien Dempsey home in a taxi after two drinks the night before and even dedicates a powerful ‘The World Is Full Of Crashing Bores’ to Eurovision King and McDonalds advert star, Johnny Logan!
But Morrissey will never be a jukebox. If he wished to be, The Smiths would’ve reformed long ago. Encore ‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’ ends in high-spirited shirt-ripping drama as Moz waves farewell to his family’s city and yet another year of refusal.
Collecting together tracks from all of AGWNN’s releases to date and a number of previously unheard recordings, Mountain Debris is literally ‘the story so far’, documenting a band steeped in an atmospheric winter of pining-in-the-distance vocals and chomping guitars. While the mood remains the same throughout, moments of anthemic escapism occasionally break out, like the glorious ‘Sofia’ and the appealingly rusty but playful ‘Stone Setting’. Cushioned between these are Pixies bass-led sprints like ‘Horses’ and the mysteriously lush ‘Chimes’ and the naked piano-led ‘Underpass’, the latter with a plaintive vocal style not too distant from The Band’s Richard Manuel. Sixteen diversely sounding tracks clocking in at just over half an hour is a considerable achievement. The short duration makes putting Mountain Debris on repeat both inviting and essential. It takes time to break the glass but there’s warmth in the winter after all.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘SOFIA’, ‘HORSES’, ‘UNDERPASS’ FOR FANS OF: BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, SIGUR ROS, KEVIN SHIELDS
This inevitable family affair by one of America’s most acclaimed musical dynasties spans three generations, and spiritually four on the epic 12-minute title track, originally written in the early ’70s for Jimmy Webb’s grandfather. The roll call here includes Webb’s sons Christiaan, Justin, James and Cornelius, who together contribute several new compositions, his father Bob and his sadly underused youngest daughter, Camila. The rich and varying textures of all their vocals are best realised on ‘Highwayman’, just one in number of Jimmy Webb standards given a new perspective on this very welcomed and long overdue slice of family Americana.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘HIGHWAYMAN’, ‘COTTONWOOD FARM’, ‘WHERE THE UNIVERSES ARE’ FOR FANS OF: GRAM PARSONS, WILCO
Despite being a live unit for almost 25 years there are no indications that Hothouse Flowers are about to succumb to the role of complacent elder statesmen of Irish Rock, chiming out the tried and tested on auto-pilot. As exemplified on this particular evening in the Alley, there is still no certainty as what Liam Ó Maonlaà and Fiachna O’Braonain will do next. The Hothouse Flowers take their audience around the world, with the musical styling changing not just from one song to the next but, at times, from one verse to the next.
Tonight, they took Strabane to the Afro-American Gospel Halls of the South, and then hitched a ride with Muddy Waters to Blue Chicago after finding some African Roots in classics standards like ‘Your Love Goes On’ and ‘Don’t Go’. At the heart of this trans-global two hours, twenty minutes was an unmovable Celtic Soul that only reinforced just how sweet a thing it is when music travels, marries and merges. Ultimately, there are only two kind of music: good and bad, and this was damn good stuff!
The mood was set with epic opener ‘Isn’t It Amazing’, which immediately accommodated for Ó MaonlaÃ’s love for building a song from a subtle beginning to something anthemic and rousing. Appreciation was unanimous, with the audible seal of approval from Ó MaonlaÃ’s three-year-old daughter, Pema (meaning Lotus) from the balcony enough for the man himself. Pema later took to the stage herself and sat on daddy’s knee during ‘Better Man’, a lovely moment between father, daughter and the audience.
As ever, Ó Maonlaà managed to make scruffy look stylish: barefoot and dressed in a manner that would see the rest of us told to “move along”; the open shirt and long overcoat fitted him like a glove. He looked every inch the rock star poet, like a vagabond in the gutter forever looking at the stars. Only he can pull it off and he does it well. Besides, it was his birthday; he could wear what he liked!
A tale of being arrested for “minor grevious bodily harm” preceded “It’ll Be Easier In The Morning”, scaled down but no less powerful than it was in its 1989 carnation on the band’s ‘People’ album. A beautiful version of ‘Sweet Marie’ had couples snuggling up, which was a bit odd considering it’s a song about the breakdown of a relationship in the Dylan ‘Blood In The Tracks’ mode.
Snuggling to ‘Dear John’ letters done, it was then time to dance! Audience members got up off their seats for ‘This Is It’, as Ó Maonlaà swooned and swooped like a gentleman in need of a lot of room on a dancefloor. ‘Forever More’ and ‘You Can Love Me Now’ illustrated how the absence of the studio choir matters very little when you’ve got Ó Maonlaà and O’Braonain filling in with harmonies to raise any roof. The band got playful again on ‘Your Love Goes On’ with pop, trad and reggae breezing along together. This continued with the African-tinged rendition of ‘Don’t Go’, much to the delight of the dancing audience.
In the midst of the party, the Flowers’ penchant for risk perhaps went to step too far as the joyful ‘Don’t Go’ was stopped abruptly only for the band to venture into what could be best described as a long winded extended moment of progressive rock. It was obvious that it was going to kick back into ‘Don’t Go’ eventually but the momentum of the slightly bewildered audience wasn’t the same come its return.
Come the encore and all was forgiven as the Traditional Irish roots of the Flowers came to the fore with 'Cailleach an Airgid’. A foot stomp resonated around the Alley as tin whistles and bodhráns and Irish dancing graced the stage. The set was closed with the very wonderful ‘Hallelujah Jordan’, as the Flowers, after taking us around their catalogue – and the world - for over two hours, took us back to the beginning – a journey worth taking time after time.
For this their debut full length release, Italian duo Tempelhof have delivered a swelling yet subtle slice of downtempo electronic post rock. With minimal vocals and lush atmospherics invitingly imposing themselves on ten mini-epic tracks, WWNTFTB, WWBTFTE is a cinematic journey that is careful never to over-indulge on the momentum-building wave of sounds and samples; all inspired quite considerably by Bologna film library archives. The Eno laced ambience of tracks like ‘Berlin’ and splendidly simplistic eletro building blocks that ‘Enjoy Neukölln’ is formed out of help to make this one soothingly beautiful collection of tracks for any enthusiast of electonica.
8/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘WE WERE NOT THERE FROM THE BEGINNING, WE WON’T BE THERE FOR THE END’, ‘ENJOY NEUKOLLN’, ‘AQUAPLANING’. FOR FANS OF: BRIAN ENO, KRAFTWERK, ORBITAL
Recorded over a three-day period, ‘Sticks and Stones’ is the sound of four Belfast lads marrying their retro urges together playfully for 72 hours, producing one very complete album in the process. From opener ‘Too Many People’, which recalls the finer moments of guitar-led Britpop, with a good-spirited additional spit of brass throughout, to the beautifully tender ‘Things Will Always Be The Same’, to the unapologetically Beatles coloured ‘Yesterday Today’, The Vals have created an album that always changes to the appropriate gear when required, making all 12 tracks a very inviting listen from start to finish. Catchy, melodic and well flavoured with a familiarity that’s comforting, ‘Sticks and Stones’ may say nothing new but some things are worth repeating.
7/10
DOWNLOAD: ‘’’WHERE I’M MOST ALIVE’, ‘THINGS WILL ALWAYS BE THE SAME’, ‘’’YESTERDAY TODAY’ FOR FANS OF: THE BEATLES, SUPERGRASS
Hailing from Cardiff, this young quartet have arrived with a mini-album packed with indie guitar jangle, shouty choruses, melodic riffs and witty literate lyrics. With knowing hat-tips to Kate Bush, by way of The Futureheads, they have succeeded in injecting a fresh energy into a form of jangle-pop that has a tendency to sound over-familiar these days. This collection does more than imply that The Muscle Club may well have an edge that makes them stand out from the crowd.
7/10
Download: ‘I’ve Never Read Anything’, ‘Alright! Okay! You Win!’, ‘Damn These Circumstances’. For Fans Of: The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Tokyo Police Club
While they may be a multi-national outfit (America, Ireland and Germany), Flea Market Poets are steeped in a brand of earnest guitar rock that evokes memories of the US college radio bands of the ’80s and early ’90s. The infectious piano hook on the title track and the Buck-flavoured riffs of ‘Captain Nate’ and ‘Indie Rock Imperative’ reflect a sweaty club apprenticeship that has served the band as well as it did their predecessors. A seasoned and warm collection.
7/10
Download: ‘Dirty Days’, ‘Indie Rock Imperative’, ‘Black Heart’.
Two years in the making, ‘Three Fact Finder’ immediately introduces a mild mix of electronica and guitar not unlike co-producer Ken Thomas’s work with M83. While the electro fling proves to be sadly temporary, ‘International Dirge’ and ‘Helped By Science’ establish the core sound of the album, which is one more awash with harmonised vocals and lush guitars than anything else. On ‘Hang Your Head’ the band’s ‘shoegaze’ impulses reach their summit. While the album could have been doing with more of its impressive electronic strokes, it is a fine foray into what must surely be the last genre left for a spot of revisionism.
7/10
Download: ‘Clean Coloured Wire’, ‘Helped By Science’, ‘Hang Your Head’.
In an act of dismantling the conventional band set-up, riotous Geordie duo Belladonna have arrived with a debut album packed with trashy glamour. Driven by distorted bass, samples and sassy harmonies that touch on the B-52s, ‘Hey Weirdo!’ is the sound of a duo creating gold out of the deliberately minimal sounds at their disposal. When the luscious vocals turn devilish on opener ‘Viva Love’ the album shoots off and doesn’t stop speeding or shaking, confidently switching from one sonic all-girl road-trip to the next. Belladonna say ‘burn your guitars’, on this form they’ll burn all in their wake.
8/10
Download: ‘Don’t Be Fooled By The Romance’, ‘We Are Your Diversity’, ‘Viva Love’.For Fans of: Detroit Cobras, Kasabian, The Kills.
The Electric Picnic line-up so far was revealed yesterday. Acts announced for the three-day festival at Stradbelly in Laois this September 4-6 are:
Madness, Orbital, Flaming Lips, Basement Jaxx, Vagabonds, MGMT, Fleet Foxes, The Klaxons, Bell X1, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Chic, Seasick Steve, 2 Many DJs, Lisa Hannigan, Explosions in the Sky, Damien Dempsey, Alabama 3, Bat for Lashes, Zero 7, Erol Alkan, Roots Manuva, The Sugarhill Gang, Billy Bragg, Lykke Li, Imelda May, Echo and the Bunnymen, Magazine, ESG, Moderat, Simian Mobile Disco, Four Tet, Skream and Benga - Magnetic Man, Noze, Heartbreak, Halfset, Chris Cunningham, Okkervil River, Magnolia Electric Company, Low Anthem, Villagers, Tunng, Jape, Whitest Boy Alive, Michachu and the Shapes, The Walkmen, Michael Nyman, Dublin Gospel Choir, Quantic Soul Orchestra, Jazzanova.
There is a great deal to look forward to in that list so far, and rumours of acts such as Kraftwerk (who were amazing at the festival in 2005), Morrissey and David Byrne have not been ruled out yet. Out of the Irish acts performing, Villagers should be interesting to see. The new project of The Immediate'sConor O'Brien, Villagers recently released one the best Irish EPs of recent months with 'Hollow Kind'. Jape, the brainchild of Redneck Manifeso's Richie Egan, are always a big attraction at the Picnic, and after winning the Choice Music Award recently for the 'Ritual' album, 2009 should see Jape's biggest billing at the Picnic yet. American electro-pop duo MGMT literally raised the roof at Oxegen 2008 and are certain to do just the same at the Picnic this year. The Festival always has a fine bill of old school acts in the line-up, and 'nutty boys' Madness, '80s white-soul boys ABC, 70s funksters Chic, featuring Nile Rogers, and Hip-Hop pioneers Sugarhill Gang, whose most famous track 'Rappers Delight' featured a sample of Chic's 'Good Times', should all hopefully still have enough juice in the can to keep the weekend party flying. Personally, I'm also very excited to learn that 'the Orson Welles of Punk' Howard Devoto will be bringing his reformed new-wave band Magazine to the Festival. The return of Orbital is certain to be a late-night highlight on whatever night they are certain to top the bill. Overall there's lots to be very excited about, and hopefully lots more to be added to the bill. I'll see you there!
The Bittersweets should make no apology for the lush, richly melodic and polished folk pop that makes up this, their second album. These are a colourful well-crafted collection of songs requiring no ‘Alt’ prefix. Hannah Prater’s vocals inject the perfect contrast of light and shade into Chris Meyer’s songs, with the welcomed addition of steel and acoustic guitars, and even the occasional cello, making this collection simply breeze along. Hidden track ‘Fortunate Wind’ even hints at a dramatic new direction.
8/10
Download: ‘Is Anyone Safe?’ ‘My Sweet Love’, ‘When The War Is Over’
For Fans Of: Joni Mitchell, Emmylou Harris, Natalie Merchant
The Carney brothers are not about to buck the trend of ‘brothers in bands means chaos’ here. From the sonic disturbances of the epic title track to the slow momentum of raw guitars and layered vocals on ‘Wax Worship’ to the eerie nocturnal acoustics of ‘Seminal Shining’, ‘Maker’ is an album that manages to make distorted and sparse guitar rock still sound not only interesting but mysterious. With little overdubbing, maintaining a live energy that wreaks beautiful havoc on the amps, this is a collection from a rusty farmyard you dare not stop off at, beside a woods the band members know every inch of, but still you’ll stay for more!
8/10
Download: ‘Wax Worship’, ‘Wild Knife Night Fight’, ‘Laywayed’
For Fans of: My Bloody Valentine, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath,
It is difficult not to put this seven-track EP, which consists of material recorded during the sessions for Hauschka’s 2008 ‘Ferndorf’ album, into the category of ‘cast-offs’. ‘Snowflakes And Car wrecks’ may be a proposed continuation of the German composer’s ‘prepared piano’ alchemy, but its successes are varied. While this instrumental collection has numerous layers, all based around Hauschka’s reinvention of the piano as an outlet for rhythm as much as melody, and even though it maintains the minimalism of his previous work, it is an uneven collection, which at times struggles to ignite interest. Yet, the addition of cello on the sparse ‘Eisblume’ and the delightfully multi-paced ‘Tanz’, along with deceptively simplistic charm of ‘Wonder’ all adds a welcomed intrigue and interest in the future of this instrumental experiment.
It’s a cruel injustice to limit this chaotic seven-track collection to a CD player in the corner of the room. As increasingly intriguing and addictively unsettling as ‘Watersports’ is by the listen, the live environment is really where these songs belong: somewhere to accommodate the improvisation and deconstruction that Mi Ami obviously thrive upon. As a band manipulating “rhythm, negative space, and the physicality of a song”, the San Francisco based trio will always matter more on stage than they ever will in the studio for that very reason. Yet, by taking in elements of dub, jazz, disco and African rhythms on ‘The Man in Your House’ and the standout ‘Pressure’, and with an unnerving and deliberate cat wail vocal eluding to fear and anxiety though out, there are still enough varying textures of ugliness to make ‘Watersports’ a compelling listen from start to finish. Now lets see it live!
7/10
Download: ‘The Man In Your House’, ‘New Guitar’, ‘Pressure’
For 25 years now the word ‘ambiguity’ has had a picture of Morrissey beside it in the Oxford English Dictionary. With the notable exception of Bob Dylan, no other artist has to do so little to get so many people analysing and hypothesising before a single note is even heard. The main sleeve of ‘Years of Refusal’, Morrissey’s ninth solo record, has had Internet forums overflowing with opinions on its meaning and significance. Why the baby? Why the Fred Perry shirt? Why the etchings on Mozza’s wrist and the child’s forehead? And where do these signifiers fit in with the album’s title? ‘Refusal’ to do what? Is Mozza playing the persecuted prophet without honour again? Is it a reference to the years of refusing to step back on the stage with his former Smiths band-mates? In reality, Morrissey is, by now, more than aware of the constant scrutinising of everything he does and is probably having some fun with it as he resides indefinitely like the successor to Richard Harris in some plush hotel suite.
If Morrissey has refused to do anything it’s change. Yes, the “remarkably dressed” crooner now approaching 50 is a far cry from the pale emaciated and proudly aloof young man who fronted The Smiths. He is a lyricist that rarely ponders on anything but his own life. It is something that has become increasingly evident through the years and ‘Years of Refusal’ is a loud declaration that this is the only way forward for Morrissey now. "I’m doing very well" he states, as album opener ‘Something Is Squeezing My Skull’ continues his tradition of starting his albums off quite aggressively, with the stamp of the late Jerry Finn's production evident immediately. A schizophrenic tale of medication in a loveless modern world, the album opener is solitary a quiff away from Blink 182, yet there’s still enough to make the Kaiser Chiefs look on in envy and, one would hope, consider early retirement.
‘Mama Lay Softly On The Riverbed’, with its tribal drum rolls by Matt Walker, who is in fantastic form though out the album, addresses “faceless moneymen” who have driven a debt-ridden mother to the depths of despair. In some ways it’s a revisit to 1984 and The Smiths’ ‘This Night Has Opened My Eyes’, albeit lyrically. Musically it’s quite a dull forgettable affair. ‘Black Cloud’ maintains the rock element and is an improvement, with Morrissey and band gelling well, reflecting practically three years on the road together. A guest appearance by non other than Jeff Beck must surely make for one of the more off-the-chart collaborations in recent times, yet his guitar riff intro should have fans forgetting that Johnny what’s-his-face for a second or two.
Lead off single 'I'm Throwing My Arms Around Paris' is less aggressive and recreates the autumnal soundscapes of 'Vauxhall and I' period Morrissey. The nomadic Mancunian finds himself (yet again) in possession of a love "nobody wants", and in doing so embraces the welcoming Parisian "stone and steal" instead. Morrissey has described the track as his "cosmopolitan hymn to architecture" - a line much more interesting than anything in the actual song.
"When Last I Spoke To Carol" is yet another tale dismissing all hope of rescue, where our hero struggles to find words of encouragement for a bewildered ally. "I can't pretend it gets easier" sings Morrissey to "Carol", while his backing band pander quite beautifully to his Latino fanbase with flamenco guitars standing in sharp contrast to the pre-dominant rock essence of the album. The inclusion of last year’s singles ‘All You Need Is Me’ and ‘That’s How People Grow Up’, which both appeared on Morrissey’s ‘Greatest Hits’ compilation, is at first baffling, yet both sit well in this collection maintaining a tempo that makes ‘Years of Refusal’ sprint in a manner that one would not expect from a man approaching 50, least of all Steven Patrick Morrissey.
As someone who spent his twenties and thirties being “old but sadly wise” he now sounds increasingly youthful. While there is little lyrically to dwell on in this album, the most fascinating thing about Morrissey here is his voice, which is hitting notes previously un-attempted. His peculiar falsetto is as much an instrument as the chomping guitars on the resolute ‘I’m OK By Myself’ and the Sparks-influenced keyboards on ‘Sorry Doesn’t Help’ and the undoubted album highlight ‘It’s Not Your Birthday Anymore’. The latter has Morrissey touching on the lush atmospherics of The Blue Nile in the verses, and it contains the now obligatory single thinly veiled reference to ‘whoopie’ in a Morrissey album. “All the gifts that they give can’t compare in any way to the love I am now giving to you, right here, right now on the floor,” he sings – it’s gender unspecific and Morrissey at his best.
Sadly album producer Jerry Finn passed away last summer and while ‘Years of Refusal’ is a worthy swansong for the American, it does suffer, as did Finn’s previous collaboration with Morrissey in 2004, ‘You Are The Quarry’, with the artificial strings, which are quite obvious when used, particularly in the ballad ‘You Were Good In Your Time’. But the album is at its best when it rocks and in many ways is the album ‘Southpaw Grammar’ should’ve been back in 1995.
Rented rooms in Whalley Range are, by now, a long time ago and as a sun-soaked multi-millionaire Morrissey does right, by and large, to examine what condition his present condition is in and his alone. While this may see him fall into parody at points, it’s still comforting to know that he’s out there and probably at this moment driving his Jaguar XK Convertible to Mexico while admiring himself in the rearview mirror, with nothing for company but a compilation of Diana Dors, Timi Yuro and Jobriath that he made specifically for the trip.
Two of my favourite albums from the 90s are 'Ophelia' by Natalie Merchant, and 'Jet' by Katell Keineg. Natalie is the former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs. Katell was raised in Cardiff but has lived in Dublin since 1990.
Listening to 'Ophelia' again today, it just dawned on me that it's been ten years since I first heard it. I started to think back to 1998. I visited Galway quite a bit that year and that album, along with 'Jet' by Katell, coloured so much about my moods, likes and loves at the time. It's always nice to listen to something that can still take you back to where and how you were when you first heard it - right now in my head I'm kicking a ball with a bunch of French people and street drinkers in the middle of Eyre Square, Galway, after France just defeated Brazil in the World Cup Final, and 'Veni Vidi Vici' is ringing in my ears, as is 'Kind and Generous', 'King of May' and 'When They Ring The Golden Bells'. Music's a powerful medicine, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
Natalie and Katell worked together earlier in 1995 on Natalie's debut solo album, 'Tiger Lily'. They toured together as part of the Lilith Fair shows. Natalie also covered the Katell penned 'Gulf of Araby' live, a version of which appears on her 1999 album 'Live in Concert' and for many would be the centerpiece of the album.
Two different vocal styles but both with their own personal stamp on their deliveries, their catalogues are worth delving into if you haven't sniffed already. Here's both ladies with a live rendition of 'Carnival', which featured on Natalie's 'Tiger Lily' record.
Katell Keineg performing 'The Gulf of Araby'. Introduced by Glen Hansard.
Hailing from Armonk, New York, Preston Reed has for over twenty years been showcasing his “self-invented” guitar technique around the world. Since his debut album released in 1979, aptly titled ‘Acoustic Guitar’, Preston has released 15 albums, most of which have been instrumental guitar albums. His solo live performances have become the stuff of legend, so much so that one Irish Independent journalist declared Preston “the best one-man show since Bruce Springsteen”. Speaking to the Strabane Chronicle ahead of his show in the Alley next week, Preston was very welcoming of such high praise.
“I think that reviewer saw me play at the Crawdaddy in Dublin. It’s quite a compliment and publicity that I didn’t even have to pay for, which was nice,” he joked. “The technique I use when playing the guitar tends to draw people in and they get puzzled as to how so many sounds can be coming out of one instrument. It’s something people like that journalist tend to remember.”
Indeed, Preston is like a one-man orchestra, combining percussion, rhythm and melody lines all on one guitar. It’s an ambitious technique that Preston developed in the mid-eighties.
“I wanted to figure out how to play guitar and drums at the same time. Conventional guitar playing would never allow for such an idea, so I began by going at the guitar fret board with both hands instead of one. I wanted to get away for the finger picking techniques and basically leave behind all that I had learned previously and try to come up with something new. I developed an almost ambidextrous way of playing the guitar. Sometimes I’d have both hands on the fret board, sometimes just my right-hand, sometimes just my left-hand, with the other hand finger picking at the same time,” he explained.
While it all sounds very original and inventive, Preston is consciously aware that it serves little purpose if the music does not have a substance of its own. “It’s may be a style I invented, but it’s not a gimmick. It’s completely music driven, and has many facets and colours to it with so much going on at one time,” he stressed.
Preston’s beginnings on the guitar stemmed from a few chords learned from his guitar-playing father. While secretly practicing some of his favourite Beatles and Stones songs on his father’s guitar, he studied classical guitar for a while only to quit due to an overly strict classical guitar teacher and a teenage rebellious streak.
“I was a bit of a rebel back then and in many ways I still am, if I’m honest. If someone tells me how to do something, I’ll do it another way. When I play guitar I need to be in control. Unfortunately for me, learning classical guitar is steeped in rigour and tradition, so we were destined to be on a collision course from the start,” he laughed.
It was this determination to do things his own way that would eventually see Preston re-write the guitar rulebook and become the innovative figurehead he is today. After being disillusioned following his classical guitar encounter, his interest in the guitar was rekindled in a big way after hearing Jefferson Airplane's rootsy blues offshoot, Hot Tuna. After studying acoustic guitar heroes John Fahey and Leo Kottke, Preston played his first live gig, supporting beat poet Allen Ginsberg. Ginsberg had long been associated with musical figures like Bob Dylan and Paul McCartney and Preston found such unconventional collaborations to be beneficial not just to his rebellious nature but to his playing technique.
“I was 17 and playing tunes at a party for my sister. A friend of hers, who was at the party, rang me a few weeks later telling me that Allen Ginsberg was looking for a guitarist to accompany him for some of his readings. I was quite literary and read a lot of beat literature by the likes of Ginsberg, Burroughs and Kerouac, so I knew what he’s be looking for musically. He was big into improvising and would read his poetry while playing a squeezebox, stopping randomly to allow for me to play a guitar solo. It was all very interactive and a great thing to be around. “By the time I recorded my first record in 1979 I had pretty much perfected finger picking guitar techniques. By 1987 I was feeling held back by the guitar, so that’s when I started to develop the kind of guitar playing I’m known for now. It’s always been about creating new music for me and searching for fresh new sounds,” explained Preston.
Preston’s guitar style has influenced many, most notably American freestyle guitarist, Andy McKee, who, after seeing Preston perform in 1995, set about developing his own guitar technique from an instructional videotape made by Preston.
“Andy McKee was indeed influence by what I do. He has always been respectful of that fact and has actually helped build my audience. He sends a lot of people who go to his shows my way, which is fantastic,” Preston enthused.
Next Thursday will be Preston’s first visit to Strabane, but not his first visit to Ireland. He has been a regular performer in Dublin, Cork and recently performed in Derry’s Playhouse also. “Ireland has always been a great place for me to perform. The audiences really appreciate what I do. I’m looking forward to the intimate set-up at the Alley in Strabane. What I do can work in every environment. I’ve played rooms with only a handful of people present and I’ve played festivals in front of thousands. You get away with less at the more intimate gigs though, being more exposed to the audience, but that’s also exciting. I’ll have five guitars with me, including a solid body baritone guitar, steel guitar and an acoustic 12-string.
“The shows seem to appeal to all ages. It’s pretty much across the board – young kids, families to old ladies. They are always very complimentary to me after the show, which makes it all worthwhile. I want share the experience with people and hopefully they will have a great evening of instrumental guitar music. There’s a lot going on when I play and I’d like to hope everybody will find something in there for themselves,” stated Preston. His music can be heard on his myspace page (www.myspace.com/prestonreed).
Chris Helme was lead singer of The Seahorses, the band formed by guitar great John Squire following his acrimonious departure from The Stone Roses in 1996.
While Squire could've had his pick of lead singers when forming The Seahorses, such was his musical clout in the mid-nineties, he still opted for the unknown Chris. Legend has it that Chris was discovered by Squire while busking outside a Woolworths store. Speaking to Chris last week, the Chronicle had to find out if this was true, or yet another myth not uncommon with John Squire throughout his music career.
"It's true and then it isn't," Chris laughs. "John didn't actually see me busk. It was more a case of a friend of a friend of his called Denis who saw me. He asked if I could give him some recordings if I had any. It built from that. I was doing steady gigs at that time too and John, after hearing my tapes, came along and watched me a few times. After a couple of gigs he came up and asked if I wanted to sing in his new band. I gladly accepted of course."
Squire's psychedelic flavoured guitar innovations assisted in making The Stone Roses one of the most important bands of their generation. His departure from the band was mourned by a devotional tribe of fans. An outpouring of shock ensued among the 'baggy' generation. With his iconic status, whatever Squire planned to do next was certain to be watched with eager eyes. Was Chris ready to go under the unavoidable microscopic lense?
"It was a bit scary. I never even had a record contact before, never mind being in a band with John Squire. It was all quite bizarre to be suddenly on stage with the guy who opted to leave The Stone Roses but there was no point feeling nervous about it. No matter what we did we were never going to please that faction who never got over John leaving The Stone Roses. To be honest, they were only a minority. They used to come to the early Seahorses gigs and just shout for Stone Roses tracks. We called them 'Liam Browns' on account of them all looking like a cross between Liam Gallagher and Ian Brown. All we could do was ignore them, they eventually went away and what was left was the people who wanted to hear what we had to offer right there and then," he says.
In April 1997, The Seahorses released their debut single, the anthemic 'Love Is The Law'. With a big chorus and more traditional guitar approach by Squire, it became clear that The Seahorses would not be dabbling in the dance and rock fusions of Squire's former band. Two months later, the band's one and only album, 'Do It Yourself', was released and it featured hit singles 'Blinded By The Sun' and 'Love Me and Leave Me', which was co-written by Liam Gallagher. The album was produced by Tony Visconti, who worked on classic albums by David Bowie, T-Rex and Thin Lizzy. What was it like to be working with the guy who produced classic albums like Bowie's 'Heroes', T-Rex's 'Electric Warrior' and Lizzy's 'Bad Reputation'?
"It was great to work with someone like Tony Visconti," recalls Chris. "I'm a huge fan of the records he worked on with Bowie. He's an amazing string arranger and really knows what he's doing in the studio. He's got an advantage over most younger producers because they've learned their craft with modern digital techniques whereas Tony comes from the old-school recording process but is also well versed in the modern ways. He has an amazing musical knowledge."
To promote the album, The Seahorses toured extensively for three years, playing alongside The Verve at Slane Castle in 1998 and also supporting acts such as The Rolling Stones, U2 and Oasis. How did Chris feel mixing rock's aristocracy?
"It all got a bit mental. I was in the kitchen having a cup of tea one day and I got a phone call asking if I fancied playing with The Rolling Stones. Well I've never really wanted fame, I don't think 'celebrity' is a particularly healthy thing but when The Rolling Stones come knocking you can't say no - it's a one in a million chance," he stresses.
In 1999, John Squire pulled the plug on The Seahorses in the middle of the recording sessions for their second album. The results of those sessions are widely available on a bootleg album called '2nd Album Recordings', alternatively titled 'Minus Blue'. Squire would eventually retire from the music business completely and return to his first love of painting. Chris went on to form a band called The Yards.
"For a while I didn't know what to do," he recalls. "I just bought a house. I was about to become a dad. I started to do a few gigs - nothing big. It was all really chilled out and I started to be joined on stage by people I knew. What was first a series of solo gigs developed into full band gigs. Eventually we all decided to become a band. We called ourselves The Yards and split things five ways."
The Yards' self-titled debut album was released in 2005 and they're currently busy at work mixing their follow-up. Alongside his work with The Yards, Chris keeps busy as a solo performer. He released a solo album called 'Ashes' in May. He also helps run an acoustic night in York called The Little Numb Numb Club and believes that his home city is currently becoming quite the musical hub.
"There's a great scene in York at the moment and people are really starting to take notice. People like Mark Wynn, The Runaway Sons and The Sorry Kisses are all worth looking out for. There's a lot going on and I'm just glad to be in the middle of it, keeping busy and doing things the way I like to do them," he says.
The Seahorses, with the Chris Helme penned 'You Can Talk To Me'
Formed in London in 1994, The Bluetones had huge success in the nineties, achieving thirteen Top Forty singles and three Top Ten albums in the UK chart. Their debut album, 'Expecting To Fly', topped the UK charts in 1996. With classic tracks like 'Slight Return', 'Marblehead Johnson' and 'Bluetonic', the band, fronted by Mark Morriss, were at the forefront of what journalists deemed, the 'Britpop' scene; a period in the nineties when all things english were celebrated in the music of bands like Pulp, Suede, Blur and, of course, Oasis.
While much of the scene had an unendearing Norman Wisdom quality to it that quickly ran out of steam, The Bluetones were one of the few acts that remained loyal to their own artistic instincts rather than succumbing to the 'cheeky chappy' flag waving that dominated. They crafted guitar driven songs that reawakened a notion of 'indie' music that preceded them. Rich in melody, their songs floated above the hype and possessed a quality that makes them as fresh sounding today as they did in the nineties.
"Well 'Britpop' didn't really exist," explains Mark, speaking to the Chronicle last Friday. "It was invented by a few people to help sell magazines. But we were never part of any group or scene. Britain has had a long history of great guitar bands, from The Beatles to The Who to The Sex Pistols to The Smiths. These bands were never part of a movement, they just did what they wanted to do regardless, and that's what made them special. So for us, it wasn't about flag waving or being part of a scene. It was about writing great guitar tunes that we liked. It wasn't anything new, because guitar music had never really gone away."
As confident a band as The Bluetones were at that point, Mark admits that getting to number one in the UK charts with their debut album was a big surprise.
"We did hit a good wave at that point, but we never really expected that kind of success. But we were well prepared to take it on board. There is nothing else for it but to go with the flow," explains Mark.
Go with the flow is exactly what The Bluetones did. Following chart success with their debut album and with the single 'Slight Return', which was kept off the number one spot by the intensely irritating 'Spaceman' by one-hit wonder Bowie copyist Babylon Zoo, The Bluetones took to the road and toured the world extensively. The tour on the back of their debut album included a very memorable show with Radiohead at the Castlegar Showgrounds in Galway in the summer of 1996.
"That was a great weekend in Galway,” recalls Mark. “It was an amazing concert, although the weather was absolutely disgusting. Some quality acts played on that day and Radiohead were just unbelievable. There was such a great buzz about the place because not only was the gig on but the Galway Races were on too, so the place was really busy.”
Following on from their debut album and the extensive touring, The Bluetones then released their second album 'Return to the Last Chance Saloon' in 1998. Although it failed to repeat the number one status of its predecessor, the album still reached the Top Ten. It was also a much louder record than 'Expecting to Fly'.
"The second album was a development from the first one alright. It's definitely heavier, that's for sure. We've always tried to stretch ourselves as musicians and build on what we've done before. With my voice the music will always have The Bluetones stamp on it, but we always have fun with our sound," says Mark.
By the time the band released their third album 'Science and Nature' in 2000 the musical landscape had changed in England and many of the bands who stood under the 'Britpop' banner had fallen by the wayside. Despite this, and despite little or no support from the increasingly fickle NME, ‘Science and Nature’ went on to become The Bluetones’ third Top Ten album. While similar commercial success may have alluded The Bluetones since then, their fanbase has remained loyal, and the band still record and tour successfully today.
"We're very lucky in that people have stuck with us," says Mark. "It has always been about the journey and not the destination and I've been fortunate to be able to still do this with the guys in the band. The four of us are best pals."
While he remains busy touring with The Bluetones, most recently in May and again this coming December, Mark still found time in between to write and record a solo album called 'Memory Muscle', which was released in May this year.
"I got to a point where I was curious to see if I could make a record on my own. The rest of the guys in The Bluetones were very supportive. It was fun to make have final decision on everything for a change, but still nothing beats that chemistry you get with a band," urges Mark.
He is now looking forward to his first visit to Strabane and can promise a set mixed with Bluetones classics and new material and even one or two covers.
"I always get requests for Bluetones tunes and I'm more than happy to accommodate. Those songs are the reason I’m there in the first place, getting that chance to do what I do, so I'm happy to embrace all those songs and I look forward to playing them in Diceys in Strabane." says Mark.
Mike Joyce drummed with The Smiths from their formation in 1982 until their split in the autumn of 1987. Within that five year period the band, fronted by enigmatic lyricist Morrissey on vocals and Johnny Marr on guitar, stood out like a celebratory beacon of hope for the outsider left cold by the impending big-haired bland pop of the time and the uncompromisingly fatal ripples of Thatcherism. With a catalogue of songs laced with venom, wit, melancholy and tenderness and soundscapes that owed as much to Bob and Marcia, The Shangri-Las and T-Rex as they did to Punk and New Wave, The Smiths were arguably the most important British band since The Sex Pistols. Their music had a personality, a stomp and a bite.
The dichotomy between Morrissey and Marr, one being an idealistic guitar hustler, the other being a reclusive introverted Oscar Wilde reading New York Dolls fanatic with a his own special Northern-English croon, saw to it that The Smiths sounded and looked like nothing that preceded them or that has come in their wake. With four studio albums and a collection of exclusive non-album singles with B-sides that put their contemporaries' A-sides to shame, The Smiths packed a lifetime into five short years.
As lauded and as important as Morrissey and Johnny Marr were as a songwriting team, one of the key factors of The Smiths was the rhythm section. The band boasted one of the tightest live units around thanks to Mike on drums and Andy Rourke on bass. Did Mike feel at the time that he was part of something special?
"Well when you're young and starting a band, you like to think that you're going to be the best band in the world," he says. "Those early days in the rehearsal with Johnny and Morrissey were interesting, but it wasn't until we recorded our first single, 'Hand In Glove', when I stood back and realised, Christ, this is amazing. This sounds like a band I want to be a fan of. It just built from there. We knew we were a great band and were never afraid to say it. Every time we recorded something it just got better and better. We raised the crossbar each time we did a song and that went right up to our last album 'Strangeways Here We Come'. The fact that people still talk about what we did together twenty years after we split shows that it was something special. Those records still stand up today. The appeal of The Smiths endures and I'm privileged to have been a part of it."
Despite the attention of major labels, and the Manchester label Factory, The Smiths opted to sign for London-based Independent label Rough Trade. A dogged reliance to do things their own way saw to it that The Smiths had the freedom to present themselves in a way that many major labels prohibited their acts from doing.
"Rough Trade gave us the freedom to put out whatever single we wanted and tour in any manner that we wanted," reflects Mike. "Obviously releasing albums called 'Meat Is Murder' and 'The Queen Is Dead' would cause concerns to certain labels, but Rough Trade went with the flow. Morrissey took care of all the sleeves for the singles and the albums as well"
This approach saw the band break from the conventional touring path, taking themselves to venues many popular bands tended to ignore. This was perhaps realised best in the relentless touring The Smiths did of Ireland.
"It was Morrissey's idea to travel to parts of Ireland that other bands would ignore. Most bands still to do this day will play Dublin and Belfast and that's it. We would do Belfast and Dublin, but also places like Dundalk, Coleraine and Letterkenny. We also played the Leisure Centre in Galway, which was great for me because Galway is where my family is from. We had a big Joyce gathering that night, I remember," recalls Mike.
"We wanted to break away from that big arena set-up," he stresses. "The gigs were like celebrations between the crowd and the band - we were both the same. We never wanted it to be a case of, well you're way up on the stage and we're down here. It was a case of all of us together."
The band toured relentlessly throughout their existence and for Mike, it gave him an opportunity to approach the songs differently at times from their recorded incarnations. As a fan of the John Peel Session recordings of their early material as opposed to the studio versions that made up the band's debut album, I put it to Mike if he felt the same.
"John Porter produced that first album and he was keen on having a consistent beat running throughout songs like 'What Difference Does It Make?' remembers Mike. "When we played the song live it was broken up a bit more. I did prefer it that way and Morrissey did too. John convinced us into doing it his way in the studio, even though we continued to do it the way we liked live. Still, we had a hit with 'What Difference Does It Make?' and did it on Top of The Pops, so John knew what he was doing. I like both versions. I recently heard the studio version at a fairground and it sounded amazing. It was the perfect setting!"
For many, The Smiths' opus was their 1986 album 'The Queen Is Dead'. Undoubtedly one of the finest intros to an album ever, Mike's tribal drum roll led into Johnny Marr's furious and chaotic guitar swagger and Morrissey's wry and blackly comic tale of envious royal siblings, nine-year-old drug peddlers and tone-deaf piano players breaking into Buckingham Palace. Does Mike share my enthusiasm for that intro?
"Well I never get sick of hearing people tell me that," he laughs. "It was an unusual recording process for me when we did that track. There were drum loops and samples running through the song. But they were recorded live in the room. I wanted to do the whole thing live. Stephen Street, the producer, said I could do it when we played it live but the studio should be a different dynamic because of what's available. We all agreed for that to be the case throughout the band's history. That's why Johnny had so much scope in the studio for 'How Soon Is Now?' There must be about thirteen guitars layered on that track. Concerts were always a different dynamic and I always loved it when we played 'The Queen Is Dead' live - it was a killer!"
Despite all that has been written about 'The Queen Is Dead', Mike's favourite Smiths album is their final album together, 'Strangeways, Here We Come'.
"There is this idea that it was all falling apart when we recorded 'Strangeways', but nothing could be further from the truth," he stresses. "Everyone was getting on so well and we really were on fire as musicians. There was obvious pressure on Morrissey and Johnny to deliver, but once the songs were written we were so confident in them. It all came together so easily after that, and we felt like we had nothing to prove. For five years we were getting bigger and better. The momentum just kept growing by the day."
Yet despite the unified front during the recording of 'Strangeways, Here We Come', disagreements and tensions between Morrissey and Marr saw the band split just prior to the album's release. Since then, Mike has remained busy as a drummer.
"I toured with Sinead O'Connor after The Smiths. It was great to play with Sinead at that point. She had never really played with a band before and it was just before she had the worldwide success that she did. Those were precious times. I also got to go on tour and drum with The Buzzcocks, which was a great honour as they were always my favourite band and John Maher on drums was a major influence on me as a musician."
Mike also has his own band now in Manchester called Autokat, who have just recorded an EP, which will be available in October. He also fronts his own Radio Show called 'Alternative Therapy', where he plays rock and alternative classics from over the past forty years. He also tours as a DJ playing these classics.
Having one quarter of my favourite ever four-piece on the other side of the phone left me with no other choice but to ask Mike the, at last count, £40 million dollar question. "I think I know what's coming," laughs Mike. So, if Morrissey or Johnny Marr were to phone Mike up today and say lets reform, what would Mike say, in light, of course, of modern events such as a certain court case over an equal share of recording and performance royalties in 1996?
"It was all such a long long time ago," says Mike. "Morrissey is happy doing his solo thing. Johnny is busy touring with Modest Mouse. Andy has his own thing going on too. Ideally, I'd like to think that we did enough. Of course, if we were to get together for, say, a charity gig, and do maybe four songs, of course I'd do it. It would have to be all four of us. But it's all pretty hypothetical talk by now. The body of work has lasted and will always last - that's satisfying for me."
The Smiths in all their live glory in 1985 peforming 'Hand In Glove'
