Esther Joy Lane – Haydon Spenceley

Ex Libras – Woe EP

Watch the lyric video for Woe below

This is a special return from Ex Libras. Much fancied around the time of the release of their debut album Suite(s) and its follow up EP Cut(s), the band went off the radar for several years leading up to the release of this comeback EP, which is undoubtedly something of a triumph. I missed them first time around (more fool me) so as the first bars of the title track’s sinuous groove kicked in I was taken aback. The press release likens the band to Radiohead and Foals and this is not too far wrong. There’s something of the compositional creativity of the former mixed in with the aggression of the latter as each of the EP’s four tracks wend and wind their way to some particularly fascinating musical destinations. On this evidence a full length album can’t come soon enough. Ex Libras are certainly a band to watch.

Andrew Wasylyk – Soroky

Now a member of Idlewild, previously a member of The Hazey Janes and sessioned for Electric Soft Parade and School of Language, Andrew Wasylyk has a stellar pedigree and. on the strength of this musically strong and lyrically emotive album, a promising future. Beginning with the woozy piano of ‘Last of the Loved’ and its intelligent use of chromatics (not to mention a fabulous Crowded House-apeing chorus), Soroky is a fine album. Centrepiece and high point ‘Empress Ballroom’ calls to mind Grizzly Bear at their most opulent, whilst ‘Morning Falls to Blue’ builds gloriously to a cinematic climax. This is an album full of musical intelligence and with enough twists and turns to keep even the most demanding listener happy.

Nova Heart – Nova Heart

Watch the video for Lackluster No. below

I get a lot of music sent to me. A lot. Not much of it is classified as ‘minimalist post-punk/electro from Beijing’ so when the debut album from Nova Heart landed in my inbox my interest was piqued. The band feature Helen Feng who, the press release reliably informs me, ‘has been dubbed the Blondie of China’. The record was mixed by Rusty Santos (TV On the Radio, Animal Collective) and there is something of a Dave Sitek influence throughout. As you’ll hear from ‘Lackluster No.’ if you watch the video above, things brood and shape-shift without ever really losing control. ‘No Controversy’ and ‘Evil’ both ricochet along percussively, the latter one of several tracks here to feature some wonderfully jarring guitar effects work. ‘Right Wrong’ has a synth-driven, disco-infused chorus to die for, and ‘My Song 9’ could pass for some of the best recent work of Russian shoegazers Pinkshinyultrablast. This is a wonderful unexpected surprise.

Jono McCleery – Pagodes

Watch the video for an acoustic version of ‘Desperate Measure’ below

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InVLHli9eiY

When you’re blessed with the kind of voice that Jono McCleery is (it’s the kind that could stop you in the street singing the phonebook, or whatever the modern equivalent of that is) the temptation could be to skimp on the other crucial element of the solo artist’s art: the songs. On ‘Pagodes’ everything works beautifully in tandem. McCleery’s vocal performances range from wistful and intimate, as on ‘Age of Self”, all the way to the understated yet complex ‘Fire In My Hand’ where the emotion causes cracks to appear on more than one occasion. Having been featured as a vocalist with Portico this year, perhaps it’s no surprise that there is plenty of jazzy electronica here. ‘Halfway’ draws you in with its syncopation before letting rip with a gorgeous chorus that wouldn’t have been out of place on the recent Grasscut album. Allied with this, tracks such as ‘Bet She Does’ position McCleery as an acoustic singer songwriter par excellence, whilst ‘Pardon Me’ takes things in a piano-driven Benjamin Clementine direction. What is clear at the end of the listening experience of this album, and it is an album to be experienced rather than consumed, is that Jono McCleery is a prodigiously talented artist deserving of a much wider audience. Don’t miss this album.

Esther Joy Lane – Esther Joy Lane EP

Listen to the EP below.

https://soundcloud.com/estherjoylane/sets/esther-joy-lane-ep

If you’re eagle-eyed, or your memory is better than mine, you’ll remember that I swooned over the performance Esther gave at this summer’s Irregular Folk Festival in Oxford. The best compliment I can pay this driving EP of dark, brooding techno, is that as I listened, I remembered each of the songs from that performance. These are four beautifully crafted tracks. Esther has a haunting, spectral voice, which cuts through even the most densely populated track. She also has a winning way with a vocal hook. Each song here contains within it the kind of chorus that pop hit factory songwriters kill for. The fact that the emotion of each song is so keenly felt is even more to Lane’s credit. At times reminiscent of the best bits of Poliça, this is sterling stuff that should be all over the radio. For me, the best track here is ‘You Know’, which grows and grows in to a real electronic mini-symphony, but to pick favourites is to potentially diminish the power of this collection as a whole. Just listen to it.

USA Nails – No Pleasure

Watch the video for ‘I Am Normal’ below

USA Nails brings together members and ex-members of Oceansize, Hawk Eyes, Kong, Future of the Left, Silent Front and Dead Arms. So you know what you’re getting. This is fast, loud, uncompromising, technical and downright heavy and fun post-hardcore. At times it reminds me of These Arms Are Snakes, but I may well be ignorant in this regard. The album barely lets up from the first to the last. ‘You Sing For Yourself’ is monstrous and its time signature changes are a joy. The distorted bass of ‘Laugh It Up’ gives the pummelled listener something to hold on to in a sea of musical chaos, and ‘Make Me Art’ really tips things over the edge in to an extra dimension with some brazen guitar work. If you like your rock records to actually rock, this second album from USA Nails is for you.

Victories At Sea – Everything Forever

Listen to ‘Bloom’ below

Victories At Sea are probably the most exciting band to have emerged from Birmingham this decade. They’ve been supporting Editors this month, so their progress in to the hearts and minds of the indie-loving nation is virtually assured. But is the record any good? Well, in a word, yes. Citing influences ranging from Slowdive to Mogwai and all the way through to dancefloor fillers Factory Floor, this is a record the like of which 2015 has not seen. That in itself is a great thing to be able to say about a debut album from a British band. Much more than the sum of its parts or influences, Victories At Sea make a truly unique artistic statement which is a real joy as the year wanes to its end. ‘Florentine’ is a driving indie pop song with a pumping rhythm bed. So is ‘Up’, which reminds me of the brilliant Losers from a few years ago (featured members of Cooper Temple Clause as I remember). DMC is darker and largely instrumental, creating a foreboding atmosphere which leads in to ‘Poles Apart’, a song with another great pop chorus, and swathes of guitars which envelop the listener like a winter fog, before the track lets go in a percussive coda. Is this a pop album? Yes. Is this a post-punk album? Yes. Is this a rock album? Yes. Is this album beyond simplistic categorisation and simply one of the best of 2015? Most definitely.

Yesterday, my wife and I had the tremendous joy and privilege of being part of what, having been there, I can only assume to be The Greatest Music Festival you’ve never been to. It’s called Irregular Folk. It’s in Oxford. It’s on today. You should stop reading this and go now. Come back to my waffle later.

Right, did you have a nice afternoon and evening? Have you sampled the amazing local pies, spellbinding local brews, the ambiance of the venue, hand-crafted by the amazing Vez and her team of volunteers? Did you find yourself transfixed by the bonkers and yet oh so right musical fare on offer? Did you, latterly, find yourself wishing this sort of thing happened all the time? Yes, so did I. Jolly good, we’re on the same page. Now you can sit back, relax and read about what I thought of yesterday.

Irregular Folk was up against it yesterday. It rained. A lot. The Perch, a wondrous pub that my wife tells me is an Oxford institution, is only reachable by car or across fields. Sadly, this led to some people staying away. They missed a treat.

Arriving having already dried out once that day, we ran the gauntlet (well, my wife ran, I sat back in my wheelchair and let it all happen) from the comfortable confines of the pub to the majestic marquee which housed the event and, dripping, stepped inside, to find ourselves transported to another world entirely. The marquee had it’s own bar. This means it wins. Aside from this, the decor in the “room” was to die for. Photo frames, candles, books meticulously positioned, I’m not really doing it justice. Suffice to say that it is obvious that Vez’s skill in room design is unsurpassed. Not just that but, and this is quite a feat for an event taking place in a tent, the sound was absolutely flawless. Having played several festivals in my previous life and suffered the consequences of half-bottomed line checks and elastic band and mice powered sound systems, to hear everything so clearly and so obviously how it was designed to be heard, is something for which Jimmy Hetherington, the event’s sound guy has to be applauded. This was quite plainly no smalltime festival, this is a boutique event which deserves to be more widely known.

So, we so far have locally brewed beer, locally made food, beautiful ambiance and situation, fantastic sound, and crap weather. But what about the acts themselves? Sadly, we’d missed Theo Bard and Gitta De Ridder by the time of our arrival, but having heard the rest of what was on offer I will hastily be checking them out. As we entered the tent, the inimitable George Chopping was finishing his set of spoken word. George was the compere for the event, and if his contributions between sets were anything to go by, this would have been quite something. The man was a mine of witticisms, social commentary and one-liners you had to hear to believe. He says the kind of things you might find yourself thinking, but censoring, in the interests of propriety, but then wishing you hadn’t. George doesn’t, and as the evening wore on, his contributions added a huge amount to the camaraderie which developed between stage and audience.

Next up was Esther Joy Lane. She delivered a taut set of beat-driven electronic pop songs. Listen to one of them below

https://soundcloud.com/estherjoylane/travelling-light

Listening to this again the morning after, the mix of Grasscut, Lapalux and Howling in the beats reinforce the view I formed at the time that Esther would be a perfect fit for the Ninja Tune roster. It seems almost unbelievable that she has only been performing live since January of this year. Already featured on BBC 6Music, and no wonder, this is an artist who could go far. I’m truly excited to hear a fuller release from her, and I hope that a label such as Ninja Tune will support her in fulfilling her obviously huge potential. Of course, I could be way off in knowing what Esther’s ambitions are! With a slightly fuller sound and the confidence that regular gigging can bring she can become major player on the UK scene. Her set yesterday was over all too soon.

Next up was the wonderfully named Bastardgeist (or Joel to his friends). How do you describe the music of Basstardgeist? Well, like Esther Joy Lane, he makes ample use of a MacBook Pro, producing and manipulating beats and swathes upon swathes of atmospheric synths. He also has a falsetto to die for. Although based in New York, his music is infused with textures found around the world. Perhaps most intriguingly of all, many of his tracks on display this evening are built around an amplified Thumb Piano. Yes, a Thumb Piano. It’s bonkers, and should be rubbish, but instead is gloriously claustrophobic one minute and open-endedly orchestral the next. It’s pop music. It’s obtuse dance music. It’s fantastic.

I was transfixed. I wanted to learn to play the Thumb Piano. I want to tell everyone in the world how fantastic this music is. All in the space of 30 minutes. Bastardgeist is playing Norwich this evening and then returning from his home in New York later in the year for a headline tour. I will be in the front row.

Did I forget to mention that the staff at The Perch braved the squalls to bring food to us from the pub throughout the evening? They did. Ample space between sets could be a disaster at an event like this, but actually it merely served to give more focus to what seemed to be the primary aim of the event, to enjoy a relaxed time together in the presence of artistic greatness.

Next up were C Duncan. Chris and his band are on the cusp of releasing a lovely debut album on Fat Cat Records, had travelled from Scotland to play, iced cakes for the event (naturally, Vez makes cakes for the performers, because she doesn’t have enough else to do) and presented a polished and diverse set of electronic folk songs. Having spent some time with the album in preparation for writing about it in July, it was a pleasure to see how well these songs transferred to the live stage. Once I’d got over my disgust at how young the band looked (I think I’m getting old) I was captivated by their close harmonies, and the way they were able to move seamlessly from fractured folk on the one hand and stomping summer-inspired pop on the other. It was a great set. I hope that the addition of a drummer to the live act will give them an added punch and confidence, without taking away the intimacy they were able to convey as a trio. And, in case I didn’t spell it out, the album is one to keep an eye out for.

Next, there was more bad news. Laura Moody, the night’s headline act was unwell and unable to play. It’s her birthday today so I hope she’s better! She had been replaced at the last moment by another artist with a fantastic name, Salvation Bill. I’d never seen, experienced or known of Salvation Bill up to the point when he meekly appeared on the stage at around 9.30. My life will never be the same having witnessed him. This wasn’t a set at a festival. It wasn’t even an event. This was something else entirely. You’d think that a guy, a guitar, some backing tracks and a drum machine couldn’t do much damage. You’d be wrong. Salvation Bill has a voice to die for. Like the best bits of Matt Bellamy, Chris Martin and Kate Bush (!) and he obviously has a musical mindset permanently directed towards “set phasers to stun”. I wish I could tell you what the songs were about, but I really have no idea. I recollect one about a barking dog which ended up dead, and another which had something to do with prison, but I have to be honest, I was alternating between laughing at the audacity of the lyrics, and the compositional mastery on display to take proper notice. Chords progress in ways that every producer I’ve ever had has told me that they’re not allowed to, however much I’ve argued. Melodies strain at the bounds of common sense before, each and every time, tumbling over in to the supposed abyss of wrong, only to turn out to be perfect. That the evening finished with a chorus of looped howling dogs while “Bill” cavorted round the venue playing a deranged saxophone solo might make it sound like some kind of debauched nonsense, but it was a perfect end to a really special evening.

My only sadness is that I can’t be there today.

One final note. The bill of the evening flowed perfectly. It had been meticulously curated. It made perfect sense, in spite of making no sense at all. For this, and for so much else, huge kudos to Vez. Irregular Folk is a new “Do not miss” date in my diary. Make sure you don’t either.