Dan Sultan, The Toff In Town, Melbourne, 26th June 2013

Dan Sultan @ The Toff In Town

It isn’t often these days you get the privilege of seeing an artist perform solo and stripped back, so it is indeed a rare treat when you do. The audience at the Toff In Town were treated to just that when Dan Sultan took the stage for his Back To Basics tour.

Quiet in anticipation, fans were seated around a few scattered tables at the front of the stage, the arrangement creating an intimate feel. With the curtains soon parting, the silence was momentarily broken as Sultan emerged to greet the appreciative crowd.

Flanked by nothing more than two guitars and as many amplifiers, the evening was to provide Sultan with a unique opportunity to showcase a collection of new songs before heading off to the U.S. to record his much anticipated forthcoming third album.

Striking up a rapport with the crowd, the Melbourne singer chatted comfortably for a time before thanking them “for coming and listening to my new stuff. Some songs you may know, most you won’t though, so thanks for coming.”

Taking up his gold Gibson Les Paul, Sultan opened with a tune certainly familiar to the predominantly female crowd, the much loved ‘Walk through my dreams’. Normally performed with a full band at his side, the tune took on a new texture in the intimate surrounds, nicely setting the scene for the evening that was to follow.

One thing is for sure, the singer-songwriter can certainly hold an audience in the palm of his hand with ease. With a voice that is both smooth, and yet at times, rugged, the evening was peppered throughout with a mix of beautiful ballads and solid rock ‘n’ roll tunes, showcasing his magnificent and diverse style.

Every emotion filled delivery conveyed a true sincerity and pride in his craft, from the beautiful ballad featuring the lyric ‘lonely lover, I’m lonely too’, sure to be a favourite, through to the self-assured ‘Rattlesnake’, a rock ‘n’ roll tune played in true Sultan style.

By far, the highlight of the evening was the moving performance of ‘Kimberly Calling’, an emotional story about the singer songwriter’s journey to discover the whereabouts of his grandmother’s grave. Located on a beach under some palm trees along the beautiful Western Australian coastline, Sultan provides a truly heartrending moment of the evening with this song. His voice wavering at times, the performance stole the hearts of many.

While the night was filled with many new tunes, the evening was rounded out with a choice from his 2009 ARIA award winning release, Get Out While You Can, the much adored ‘Old Fitzroy’; a perfectly fitting close to the evening, seamlessly linking the old with the new.

A truly memorable evening, Dan Sultan’s Back To Basics show signaled the artist’s forthcoming album will most certainly deliver another delight to fans and music lovers all around the globe, and we can’t wait for it to be released.

Review also featured on Tonedeaf.com.au http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/reviews/shows/319924/dan-sultan.htm

Michael Kiwanuka, St Michael’s Church in Melbourne, 26th March

There is something uniquely special about attending a live performance in a church. An intimate affair, listeners are treated to the kind of rare musical experience that can only occur within the rich acoustics and ethereal atmosphere of such a setting.

A place of worship, St Michael’s Church in Melbourne was indeed a fitting location for British soul musician Michael Kiwanuka to perform many of the brilliant songs that feature on his debut album Home Again.

Kiwanuka’s contemporary, yet timeless sound provided a perfect match for the surrounds and a real treat for the audience who attended.

The evening was opened by the lovely Ainslie Wills. Set against the architectural magnificence of the church’s towering organ pipes, Wills’ crisp, choral vocals carried through the venue in a truly celestial manner, setting the scene for the wonderful evening of music to follow.

Kiwanuka and his band followed and opened with a heightened instrumental piece, taking full advantage of the acoustics of the space. The singer then moved into the playful “Tell Me A Tale”, further making the most of the opportunity to perform ‘electrified’ in such a wonderful venue.

With a selection of guitars on hand, a quick change allowed the artist to move easily into “Worry Walks Beside Me”, an expressive and engaging song that instantly slowed the pace to something more familiar to fans.

This is where Kiwanuka really began to shine. With a voice and sound that belie his years, his soulful and smooth tone resonated through the open space, blanketing the audience in a beautiful, rich sound.

Casually dressed, familiar and friendly, Kiwanuka comfortably chatted with the audience between songs. A softly spoken man, he openly and playfully shared insights into what he likes about his own music, joking, “even songwriters have a boss…  there will always be some songs the boss doesn’t care about, but I care about them”.

He then proudly revealed ”Any Day Will Do Fine” as  “one of mine that I love to play”. Performing the song simply, stripped back with just vocals and an acoustic guitar, he provided the audience with a true highlight for the evening.

The artist also shared insights of his many musical influences, setting the scene for a beautifully delivered acoustic rendition of Hendrix classic “May This Be Love”, which he clearly enjoyed playing.

By far the most anticipated song of the night was “Home Again”, which Kiwanuka described in good humour as “a song the boss does care about!“ With the crowd silent until this point, a low supportive vocal began to emanate from audience as if joining in a hymn – something beautifully appropriate to the setting.

The performance was over all too soon, with the final song being the heartening tune “I’ll Get Along”. Not content for this to be the conclusion of the evening, the audience took to its feet with cheers and applause to entice the singer out for an encore performance.

Kiwanuka and his band then performed “Lasan”, which appears on the US release of Home Again. It’s a slow paced song of farewell, and a perfect way to round out the evening.

A beautiful performance by a lovely musician, Michael Kiwanuka is undeniably an artist with talent, sound and charm, the likes of which will always leave you wanting more.

Also featured on Tonedeaf.com.au http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/reviews/shows/287804/michael-kiwanuka-2.htm

 

 

 

Savannah Door chats with Adam Duritz ahead of Counting Crows Australian tour

Adam Duritz and Counting Crows courtesy of Tonedeaf.com.au

It’s early evening in New York as Counting Crows singer, songwriter, and self confessed music lover, Adam Duritz talks about the making of the band’s sixth studio album, Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation); explaining how the departure from tradition provided the band with a chance to pay respect to some really great music.

“We’ve always liked the idea of doing [an album of covers]” says Duritz. “As a band, we’ve got a long tradition of interpreting other people’s songs and we like doing that because the truth is, there is lots of great music out there.”

Among the tracklisting are tributes to Gram Parsons (“Return of the Grievous Angel”), Travis (“Coming Around”), Big Star (“The Ballad Of El Goodo”), and even the mighty Dylan and The Byrds (“You Ain’t Going Nowhere”).

“I don’t think the only music you can feel like playing is your own all the time. We’re still music fans, we love listening to and playing other people’s music”.

Duritz reveals the making of Underwater Sunshine had some unexpected benefits too, “it was a really good experience for us as a band in ways that we hadn’t even considered or imagined. We played our asses off on the record and it felt great! But we didn’t really realise how great until we got back out on the road and started to play concerts.”

“We’ve always been a really good live band, but all of a sudden, we were just killing it on stage every night,” enthuses Duritz.

“People were saying ‘man, I’m so glad I came tonight because this was the best show you’ve played in years!’ and I’d be thinking ‘well, yeah, but it wasn’t as good as last night’!”

The frontman attributes the band’s rediscovered energy to the work that went into playing the songs for the album.

“The band really stretched out with this record in a way that we wouldn’t have if the songs were just my songs,” he says, “and that really paid off, not just in playing the covers, but [also] in

the re-interpretations of our own songs,” the result being an album and ensuing collection of live performances that really hit the mark.

A truly collaborative effort, the gathering of potential songs for the album yielded some brilliant and unexpected finds, and also, quite fortuitously, provided the opportunity for some new music to make an appearance on the record.

“Immer (Guitarist, David Immerglück) bought in 5 or 6 songs, and one of them was a demo by Coby Brown for a song called “Hospital”, and all it really had on it was acoustic guitar and bass,” says Duritz.

“As I listened to it, I had an idea for how we could do it, so we worked on that song and it actually came out on Underwater Sunshine before it came out on Coby’s own record.”

Speaking with Duritz, the energy and desire he exudes to connect and share with people is palpable. An avid and prolific user of social media, Duritz embraces the opportunity it provides to engage and communicate directly with fans.

“[It’s] not a new thing for me. I remember being on my computer back in the mid-nineties and I found AOL (America On Line),” recalls Duritz.

Noting it “had message boards for all these different bands, including a forum for Counting Crows. So I wrote a couple of things on there and people responded and it occurred to me ‘wow, you could talk directly to your fans, you could get a dialog with your fans right here whereas before, you always had to go through someone like your record company or a radio station.”

“The thing about this media was that it changed the dynamic because it allowed the chance to communicate directly, and that made sense to me,” concludes the singer.

Ever since the mid-nineties, Duritz has actively engaged with social media as a means of connecting with people and to discover new music, striking up friendships with other musicians, bloggers, and fans right across the globe.

Hailing music bloggers as “the last bastion of people really talking about music,” he offers, “for the last 10 or 15 years, a lot of the magazines were writing very ironically and cleverly about what they really hate, and while that’s a lot of fun to read, it doesn’t really help you find good music,” he says.

“But I found out there was this whole indie underground of musicians and bloggers, who were all talking about music they really love, which is what musicians are like.”

Discovering new music is an important aspect of Duritz’s online experience, with he and close friend Ryan Spaulding, developing and touring “The Outlaw Roadshow” – a platform for showcasing emerging bands, predominantly discovered online.

Duritz and co-host Spaulding also prepared the Roadshow for Austin, Texas as part of South by South West (SXSW) festival.

Together, the two hand picked over 30 new and emerging bands to perform during the festival, sharing the music discovery experience with a global audience.

Buzzing about the opportunity, Duritz notes, “[we] get to spend the week hanging out and watching bands, listening to new music, it’ll be awesome!”

Australian fans will soon get the chance to see Counting Crows play some of the songs from Underwater Sunshine at the Byron Bay Bluesfest later this month, followed by a national tour.

The band will then head off to Europe where they will finish the international leg of their tour in the U.K., before heading home to the States.

Speaking candidly about what’s in store for the rest of 2013, Duritz says, “I really want to write this year.”

How so? “I’ve got a number of pieces of music that are not finished songs yet, but they’re in progress, and so I want to come home from this international tour and finish writing those songs and get ready to write a record in the (northern) summer and fall.” Great news for the fans who can’t wait to hear it!

Interview also featured on ToneDeaf: http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/features/interviews/281111/counting-crows.htm

The Break – Space Farm

Rising out of the ashes of Midnight Oil, Hunters & Collectors, and the Violent Femmes, The Break are rock royalty.

With Rob Hirst on Drums, Martin Rotsey on Guitar, Brian Ritchie on Bass, Jack Howard on Trumpet and Jim Moginie on Guitar, Theramin, Keys (and also the Producer), the all-star band deliver a solid second release in Space Farm, showcasing each member’s unique and diverse musical capabilities.

A predominantly instrumental affair, the record keeps in tradition with the group’s first release, Church Of The Open Sky, providing a healthy dose of surf guitar, peppered throughout with some unmistakable Oil-esque undertones.

An eclectic sound, the record has a strong anthemic feel delivering some well balanced and familiarly memorable tracks in “Majestic Kelp” and “Whatever Dumb Courage”, while “Day 300”, interlaced with trumpet, stretches beyond the reach of a purist surf rock sound, giving it a distinctive south of the border feel.

A curious inclusion is “Ten Guitars” featuring Englebert Humperdinck. The only track on the record to have a true vocal feature, it appears misplaced, delivering the listener back the time of its original release in 1967, which appears at odds with the remainder of the forward moving and futuristic sound of the record.

Similarly puzzling in its presence, the intermittent chanting of the words ‘Space Farm’ on the title track, which detracts somewhat from the clear instrumental intent of the record.

Listeners will likely forgive the mixed messages Space Farm conveys, and enjoy it for the psychedelic surf rock sound it embodies.

6 out of 10.

Also featured on Tonedeaf.com.au http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/reviews/new-music/282054/space-farm.htm

Gregory Alan Isakov, Sisters Folk Festival, Oregon, 7th – 9th September 2012

Gregory Alan Isakov at the Sisters Folk Festival, Oregon.

Every now and then, fate offers us a gift, allowing us to happen across an artist who’s music captures our being and resonates so perfectly, we wonder where they’ve been our whole lives. Akin to falling in love, their music reaches out and touches us in a way that is so excruciatingly beautiful, it connects with every fiber of our existence so flawlessly, pure perfection.

For me, that artist is Gregory Alan Isakov. First discovering his music in 2010 in a Japanese ski video – an unlikely place to unearth the mellowed sounds of such an accomplished folk performer – my heart swelled as I listened to the simplicity of his tune. From that moment forward, ‘The Stable Song” instantly became a favourite, so much so that my husband and I chose it as the song to which we would have our first dance at our wedding.

Born in Jo’burg and now calling Colorado home, we were fortunate enough to see Gregory Alan and accompanying friends perform numerous shows at the Sisters Folk Festival in Oregon, September 2012. Making the 12 hour drive from Salt Lake with the exclusive intention of seeing him play, words can’t describe how honoured we were for the experience that followed.

Opening to a silent crowd of around 200 festival goers, and accompanied by Cellist, Philip Parker and Violinist, Jeb Bows, Gregory Alan effortlessly captivated the audience with the very first sound from his guitar. “Virginia May” was delivered simply, complete with perfect harmonies.

A beautiful balladeer, Isakov exudes an unassuming and comfortable, yet humble and potentially fragile existence behind the microphone. With words of pure poetry in both song and speech, it is easy to fall in love with the man. Rolling into “Big Black Car” and the ever beautiful “Dandelion Wine”, I was perched in the 2^nd row hanging on every word.

“Hope was a letter I never could send, well love was a country I couldn’t defend”

Speaking softly to the crowd between songs, Isakov shared beautiful insights into the inspiration behind his music, none more poignant than the telling behind “Evelyn”. Written about a lady who lived in the flat above his, “Evelyn” perfectly captures the essence that is this beautifully talented, thoughtful and truly special individual.

By far, the highlight of the weekend was the three times we heard the ‘The Stable Song” performed. With haunting violin, cello and faultless harmonies delivered by Bows and Parker, I cried like a baby each time. A truly emotive and sentimental piece, I’ll be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to see Gregory Alan perform it live.

What can I say. There aren’t enough words to describe just how beautiful and heartwarming Gregory Alan Isakov is both as a talented musician, and the person standing in front of me. I have laboured for months over whether to even publish this piece as the whole experience of seeing him perform live was thoroughly emotional (in a good way!) and as such, I wanted to be sure I did the beauty, honesty and gift that he embodies, justice.

Gregory Alan Isakov. You are a truly talented man and it was an absolute honour and pleasure to see and hear you play. I hope I get the opportunity to see you again somewhere, some day. Absolutely Stunning. 10 out of 10.

“All the tables nice and clean,
Evelyn’s asleep,
On the grave yard shift again,
selling gasoline”

http://gregoryalanisakov.com/

Gregory Alan Isakov, Sisters Folk Festival, Sisters, Oregon 7^th – 9^th September.

Virginia May

Big Black Car

The Universe

The Stable Song

Evelyn

Red and gold

Dandelion wine

Master and the hound

That Moon Song

Salt and the sea

If I go, I goin’

Jape – Ocean Of Frequency

Jape – Ocean of Frequency.

Hands up all those who like to indulge in a bit of 80s reminiscence from time to time?

Well, look no further than Jape’s latest release, Ocean of Frequency. A definite must for fans of electronic rock and laudable pop alike, this superbly crafted album is certain to make its way onto many a favourite playlist the world over.

Hailing from Dublin, four piece Jape deliver a brilliant blend of nostalgic and contemporary sound with this release, which deservedly earned them the highly coveted Meteor Choice Music “Irish Album of the Year” Award in 2012, their second behind 2008 release, “Ritual”.

With credibility like that, this release is sure to secure Jape their place as one of Ireland’s best exports.

Peppered with infinitely sticky hooks and laid-back synth instrumentation, Ocean of Frequency embodies a collection of varied and catchy arrangements that will keep you interested from go to whoa.

From the short and sweet ‘An Hallucination’, weighing in at the sub-minute mark, to the effortlessly persuasive ‘Borrowed Time with Peace’, through to the uncomplicated sound of ‘Scorpio’, the album’s many different direction changes showcase frontman Egan’s inherent musical brilliance.

There are honestly so many highlights on this album, even with tracks like the beautifully subtle ‘It’s Shadow Won’t Make Noise’, listeners will be hard pressed to select just one as their favourite.

A thoroughly enjoyable listen, Jape have decisively hit the ball out of the park with this record. All kinds of wonderful, “Ocean of Frequency” is a truly a great album from start to finish.

8 out of 10.

Review also featured on ToneDeaf: http://www.tonedeaf.com.au/reviews/new-music/191823/ocean-frequency.htm