Monday 8 November 2010

Peak-era Pulp line-up reforms for Primavera, Wireless 2011

Following months of rumours and increasingly feverish interweb speculation, various quarters have now confirmed that Pulp are reforming to play a select handful of festival shows in 2011.

The classic line-up of singer Jarvis Cocker, bassist Steve Mackey, violinist Russell Senior, keyboard player Candida Doyle, guitarist Mark Webber and drummer Nick Banks have not played together since 24 August 1996. Senior left the band in 1999, and Pulp have officially been “on hiatus” since 2002.

Confirmed gigs for the returning six-piece so far include the Primavera Sound festival in Spain on 27 May and the Wireless festival in London’s Hyde Park on 3 July. While the idea of Pulp reforming but not playing Glastonbury seems absurd – the band having delivered one of the festival’s all-time greatest headline sets in 1995 – no announcement has yet been made about a return to Pilton.

Pulp have long resisted the idea of a comeback, with Senior in particular having expressed distaste at the idea and Doyle’s recent ill health bringing its own troubles. But Blur’s triumphant return to the spotlight in 2009 is said to have given frontman Jarvis pause for thought, according to the tabloids at least – and no doubt Suede’s impressive return to the arena stage this year will have further fuelled the fire. Perhaps Oasis splitting up had some bearing on proceedings as well.

Pulp’s official website, Pulppeople.com, has been resurrected and currently features a series of “FAQs” about the reunion, starting with “Is this really happening?”. Our favourites include “Is this an accident waiting to happen?”, “Is this a collective midlife crisis?” and “Is this just the kind of tonic the country needs at the moment?”.

There are, as yet, no answers to any of these questions, but “Is this a chance to see the last truly important pop group this country produced?”, while a little cocky perhaps, is pretty much bang on the button.

Although only two dates have been announced so far, it’s highly unlikely Pulp will have regrouped for so few gigs. If you’ll allow our minds to wander a little, an appearance at Coachella 2011 is by no means out of the question – and consider for a second the prospect of a Pulp-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties/Nightmare Before Christmas!

“Do you remember the first time?” Not half…

Charlie Ivens

Originally published on thelineofbestfit.com

Wednesday 3 November 2010

The Decemberists – ‘Down By The Water’ // Song Of The Day #164

Not, has we had at first excitedly thought, a cover of the sinister PJ Harvey blues-beast – although just sit back and think for a second how awesome that might’ve been – The Decemberists’ first new material from forthcoming album The King Is Dead (out in January) sees Colin Meloy & co on melancholy, harmonica-accentuated form.

As “Brian Molko, but a country version” (according to the missus) sings “Queen of the water/Queen of the old main drag” it’s impossible to get past the hollering lyrical and musical nods to The Pogues, and you’ll hear no complaints about that from these quarters.

Vocal assistance comes from Americana figurehead Gillian Welch, and REM’s Peter Buck contributes something or other (vibes, by the sounds of things), so it’s clear our Tolstoy-lovin’ chums are upping their game somewhat – perhaps even aiming for a more, gulp, mainstream audience.

Look at it this way: if all those millions who bought the Mumford & Sons album took a wee step to the left and embraced The Decemberists as well, Oregon’s finest folkish storytellers might be able to buy their kids nicer shoes next year…

Charlie Ivens

Originally published on thelineofbestfit.com

Monday 1 November 2010

Chrome Hoof @ Brighton Corn Exchange

Many hours have been squandered down the decades in a largely fruitless effort to tuck every band into a tidy box, a place where it can happily gambol around with all its musically similar chums – as if such a concept would naturally produce concord and mutual respect. So what to do with Chrome Hoof?

Perhaps incredibly, they’re not the first band to wear anachronistic matching outfits and vault vimfully between Krautrock, jazz, doom metal and disco – that particular flag was planted a decade ago by the perpetually neglected They Came From The Stars (I Saw Them) collective, albeit wearing white robes rather than the ‘Hoof’s trademark silver suits. And maybe TCFST(IST) played a secret Brighton show last week: that’s the only explanation we can think of for why the Corn Exchange is only a quarter full tonight. Indeed, it’s some miracle the venue isn’t overrun mid-set by the city’s hordes of shitfaced Hallowe’en-clad students, drawn Pied Piper-like by Chrome Hoof’s hypnotic motorik roar. Must be the soundproofing.

Luckily a handful of ghouls, Draculae and a female Alex from A Clockwork Orange (plus, y’know, some people wearing normal clothes) have shown up to bear witness, because you get the feeling Chrome Hoof might lack in purpose without an audience to bounce their ideas off. Frontwoman Lola Olafisoye doesn’t sing so much as yelp and issue commands – “put on your space suit”, “slice it, cube it if you like”, “first, step into your mind” – but that doesn’t stop her channeling Grace Jones and Siouxsie with ease, alternately running and prowling round the extremely full stage while her numerous bandmates bash, tease and wring out her commanding theme tunes.

It’s as if disco started with PiL’s ‘Fodderstompf’ rather than KC’s Sunshine Band, and in that darkly joyous universe Chrome Hoof reign supreme. They twist the 4/4 beat into unexpected yet still danceable shapes, all the while peppering proceedings with power chords and, at one point, a well-placed bassoon. Sometimes the violins approximate Sabbath playing Satie, others see the spectre of Ram Jam’s ‘Black Betty’ floating across the room from bassist and founder member Leo Smee’s neon-lit axe – an event that prompts two audience members to start a game of leapfrog. I swear I hear a snatch of what can only be described as progressive 2-Tone just after the gig-end stage invasion; to witness Chrome Hoof is to experience one of the 21st century’s finest, most impressively resourceful rhythm sections at work.

Admittedly, at various points tonight it’s hard to shake the image of Spinal Tap’s ‘Stonehenge’ from the mind, but strangely that’s nowhere near a criticism. For all their occasional forays into gloopy, green-hued Ozrics-prog territory, perhaps Nigel Tufnel’s immortal “no one knows who they were, or what they were doing, but their legacy remains” is the most we could hope for Chrome Hoof’s electrometaljazzplosion. On the strength of tonight’s performance – unmissable by all but everyone who missed it – they should be part of some sort of musical National Curriculum along with Devo, Faith No More, John Coltrane and Silver Apples. That, at least, is a box they might fit into.

Charlie Ivens

Originally published on thelineofbestfit.com