Celebrating the music scene in the South

Time to Talk about the Beautiful Things

Posted by Joel Ransom • February 3, 2009 • Printer-friendly

I awoke this morning from my fluoxetine dreams to a carpet of white powder under my nose down in the garden below my bedroom window and got immediately transported back to the last time it snowed on the wonderful day of Van Aid last March at Nambucca where, thanks to a Wolf and a bit of Beans on Toast, I got the chance to introduce a lot of friends to a lot of bands and artists I’d had my eye on for a while.

SO, the perfect time to do the same again seeing as I haven’t been out to a gig this week and instead guested on a radio show that went horribly wrong and spent the rest of the week planning the future mintsouth podcasts and searching out new things to excite my ears.

Now, I say the radio went horribly wrong.

It was fun, but I was awful. (Mental note to self: Don’t visit Chef before going on the radio.)  I forgot everything I wanted to talk about and then links to the people I wanted to promote completely went out of my head.  It wasn’t a complete loss though as I did invent the games Headphone Skipping (I’m not sure the tech was too impressed) and Wheely Chair Jousting with the lovely, Miss Elly Young, so that was fun.

And musical guest, Tallie Kane of Le Plat Du Jour fame, proved that she gets better and better as time goes on.

I got to play Dan Smith’s new single and a song by Ryan O’Reilly, then slipped in a bit of Frazer King to wet the whistle before finishing the show off with a snippet from the Orphans and Vandals album that I am DYING to talk about and will do by the end of this feature.

I think that’s me done for the radio for at least another year as my behaviour was more than immature and I left apologising to Chris the presenter whose only reply came in the shape of “You’re a twat”.

At least I didn’t get thrown off air like I did before for calling Katie Tunstall “Tasty Cuntsmell” in shock when a certain acoustic artist who goes by the name of Rossco declared she was one of his musical influences.  That was a great day!

Moving on...

I’ve searched and searched for great things this week, had new music dangled under my nose, revisited old pages on the myspaz to rekindle my love of people I’ve forgotten (I even saw an ex-girlfriend completely naked on all fours on one band’s page, shuddered at the thought of ever entering that space again and now understand why men’s glossies overuse the airbrush) and been overwhelmed and excited by gig and festival announcements.

Blissfields was a biggy this week... A thousand times more exciting than the same old same old that’s appearing on the Pile of Shite again, but that’s just my opinion as I’m sure you’ll be able to read about all the festy line ups as they come in elsewhere on our amazingly brilliant and unbiased mintsouth website.

But, the most exciting gig news that’s past my ears this week is that of a rather special event planned by The Strange Death of Liberal England.

TSDOLE are one of the most inventiveve bands to have sprung out of the south coast in many a moon and I love watching them play live.

When they played for me at Korova in Liverpool a year or so ago I had a chat with Andy Summerly (he’s in the band, don’t you know) and said that every time I watch them play I have a whole orchestra playing with them in my head

On the 16th April they have orchestral accompaniment (which is harder to say than Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) on the Theatre Royal Stage in Portsmouth’s Guildhall Walk.  This event is one not be missed, trust me, and it has an added bonus in the shape of support artist, Mister Joe Black.  I’m convinced that Joe Black is the reincarnation of the invisible friend I had as a small child.

He has a voice that was obtained by living on a diet of dust and tangerine, an accordion he inherited from a drunken polka player on a deserted island and a piano he, apparently, won from a game of Black Jack with The Devil Himself.  Joe likes stamping…which comes from the knees…mainly.  He is the real life equivalent of a Disney Villain: an all stomping, all growling Neo-Vaudevillian.  If Henry Selick and Tim Burton ever get hold of his music I will run to the cinema to see the results.  For now, I’ll make do with the gig on April 16th.

***Spoiler alert***

Talking of orchestras, local guitar strummer, twanger, hitter and player Will McNicol had his first rehearsal last week with the orchestra who will be playing his guitar concerto with him later this year...  That boy’s never content with anything, is he?

Other great things that have passed through my ears this week include 9piece London Mariachi band, The Bookhouse Boys,  The Barker Band, who are playing Sam McCarthy’s single launch on March 11th at the Portsmouth Guildhall,  Gideon Conn, who graces Blissfields this July, news that Gerry from SixNationState is playing Drift Bar this Thursday and the Cherbourg E.P which is, quite frankly, sublime.

And now the grand finale....

I got an album through the post this week that won’t be available until March, but I NEED to talk about it now as it’s quite possibly the best thing I’ve heard in years.  “I am Alive and You are Dead” is the first collective offering from Orphans & Vandals and it will be put into the hands of another reviewer on mintsouth closer to it’s release.

l 0341e6353e66163bc1eeb02fc169154f Time to Talk about the Beautiful Things

I’m a bit too close to the band to do a full review but I do plan on conducting an interview with them the next time I’m in London so consider this a brief synopsis of something I can’t live without.

In the last week I’ve listened to this album in the comfort of my home with only Tetley tea for company, whilst driving to Liverpool during the day and home again in the dark; I’ve listened to it in the bath, I’ve listened to it whilst taking a crap, I’ve sat on top of Portsdown Hill listening to it at night time looking down over the illuminated island that is Portsmouth (one can only ever really look down on Portsmouth) and today I listened to it watching snow fall on the streets outside and every single time I’ve listened to it I’ve found something else to make me smile, make me laugh, make my heart warm, make me long to pack up and go on an adventure, make me cry or put my hand to my mouth with empathy.

Even the stone-cold hearted will be moved into knowing that emotions are universal

  • The album itself is an epic journey!!!
  • If it were a film it would be The Lord of the Rings!!! (possibly, the gay porn version: I’ll get back to you on this).
  • If it were a book Jules Verne would have been proud to have written it!!!
  • If this album was drugs it would be crystalized MDMA!!!

Whilst listening I floated from coastal towns, across London, to Paris, through Europe and Africa amidst nostalgic tales of filth and woe that have come out of the head of front man and general dirty boy, Al Joshua.

It opens in a way that wouldn’t be out of place opening a Tarantino movie with the track Strays and from there you’re transported to periods (I’m guessing) that transcend Al’s life and imagination - that I for one am more than glad he’s decided to share - and ends leaving you content, exhausted and worried/excited that if you go and see this band live you may find yourself being drawn into some kind of budding Mansonlike cult.

When you’ve listened to it once you’re hooked, and it will haunt you forever, but in a good way, like being haunted by your favourite aunt who you loved but you were also scared by cos she was a bit different and eccentric and although remarkably beautiful she had a moustache and said dirty things like a man would.  I want to talk about it more (the album, not my scary dead aunt).  I want to go into detail - track by track - but that would ruin the review that’s to come.

For now, I must continue prepping for the mintsouth podcast (oh, you know these are going to be good) and find some more gigs to go to next week so I can revert back to being nasty about people’s music until someone finally (hopefully please) blows me away!

  • Will it be Suicide Party on Friday night at the Blissfields Ticket Launch Party?
  • Will it be Birdpen at the same event?
  • Maybe it’ll be Bryony Fry who opens for Gerry at Drift this Thursday?
  • Who knows, it could be you........

I’m off to ponder over why Jonathan Ross’ pig pics on Twitter are an important part of my life.


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