The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock

The notion of Irish music may unfortunately conjure either bad thoughts if twee jigs, smug U2 pomp or maybe the more appealing Pogues but The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock are undeniably Irish and with an edge and drive that avoids the sacharin tinged versions.

Released on the Irish/Japanese Transduction label their eponyous release takes the folk base and adds a bit of post rock/psych flavours in a successful attempt to be both a bit more edgy and experimental. Some welcome banjo and penny whistle components are counterbalanced with some more pounding moments and fuzzy guitars to make this a welcome arrival, clearly already praised in the Irish press and a bit on the blogospher- unfortunatley outside of a Dublin show and some in Jpan no sign of any mainland UK shows. Bu the album is available both through Transduction and iTunes

Wise Children

These past few days have seen a fair number of new bands bubble up to view, I will try and get posts up on most of them. But first off is a little bunch of chaps called Wise Children hailing from Chichester/Southampton (surely they must be from one or the other?) and tag themselves as folk/indie.

One of the things that caught my eye was the number of bands that I have an affection for in their 'influences' list together with a mention for Yndi Halda who have only recently come onto my radar.

I am always attracted by simple structures, that acoustic thing, and the under-produced naive effort. Wise Children meet these sort of criteria and put out a rather whistful (sp?), delicate sound of picked guitar, a bit of strings, understated percussion and a straightforward, natural vocal of presumably Robin Warren-Adamson.

They have an EP out called not very imaginatively but accurately Wise Children EP available for a paltry £3.00 plus p&p from BigCartel. Three of the tracks are streamed off their MySpace site but it does seem bit tight not just to shell out the three quid.... oh and they have a Facebook group but to be honest I am still not sure what these do other than parade your fancies on your social networking sleeve (i still joined up tho')

James Yorkston at the Louisianna

A venue of considerable if slightly shabby charm, The Louisianna was heaving ( I guess 100 people can just about 'heave') for the combined talents of the Pictish Trail, Rozi Plain and James Yorkston - all associated with the Fence Collective. Its pretty much like having bands in your front room, intimate hardly covers it, but friendly, attentive and laid back it was for this most determinedly lo-fi of nights.

I arrived too late for all but the last of the Pictish Trail's (really just Johnny Lynch) set but it seemed to have gone down well with the supportive and enthusiastic crowd. Next up local girl Rozi Plain whose new album Inside Over Here was launched in October at the nearby Cube in Bristol - with some input from our own Peeblemeister. Stripped back to just her good self Rozi's fragile songs shone with her mixture of diffidence and good humour. A couple of the songs didn't quite do it for me, but then this was a first hearing for me for all her material, but others (some of which I  can't name) clearly had more depth and resilience - here I can remember one - Stolen Shark, performed with Mr Lynch, was a charming closing number.

Mr Yorkston was for me even better live and on his own than on record. There was an immediacy to his performance, a greater accessibility to the melodies, a directness somehow. Often the beautiful recorded arrangments seem, despite their lightness,  to somehow clutter the songs and make them harder to break into. Driving home after the show and listening back to the latest album, it seemed much clearer to me - maybe I  am just gabbling now.

Anyhow the set was nicely relaxed, with ocassional interruptions and asides, but the class of the playing and the quality of the songs was abundently clear. Mr Y said at one point after a minor technical issue that at least we could go away  and report that 'he's not as good live as he is on record and his jokes are crap' - well I thought he was better live and the jokes weren't crap, rather human and warming I thought. The set was a nice mix of the new stuff and some old favourites, with Rozi and Mr Pictish joining in to enrich the sound. 

They all seemed to have agood time, the crowd would have had them play all night, but I stole away at 11.20 after the encore not knowing if they were enticed back for any more songs.

Yndi Halda and Rivulets

I have staggered across a couple of bands who have some affinity with each other despite being on different labels - Rivulets on the O Rosa Records label who of course have the obligatory MySpace as well, and Yndi Halda released on Burnt Toast Records and Big Scary Monsters Records .


First to Yndi Halda, hailing form the rural Kentish countryside around Canterbury this bunch of chaps produce, from their grandfathers barn, a rather beautiful, uplifting sort of instrumental music, with some charming old fashioned instruments among the more usual kit. Sort of akin to a happier, more ethereal Explosions in the Sky, their EP release Enjoy Eternal Bliss (apparently also the meaning of the band name somehow) is in part streamed from their MySpace but also available on iTunes and through the likes of Amazon (expensive).

Rivulets is really American Nathan Amundson plus assorted mates and friends and is reminiscent of the likes of Bon Iver, Elliott Smith and co - you get my drift. Music of a rather fragile beauty. Rivulets also have a blog/website worth a visit where you can see some rather nice photographs and hear snatches of the (third) album, You Are My Home. Although I have missed the two UK dates earlier this month, there appears to be a tie up between Yndi Halda and Rivulets - I don't know why that should seem such a surprise really.

Anyhow two bands that will be the target of further exploration for me - all a little bit hippy-trippy but that can do it for me sometimes!

Drever, McCusker and Woomble -Before the Ruin

I have long had a deep affection for Idlewild, regrettably now a tad out of fashion - the Scottish undertow, the sort-of punky attitude but with a slice of literary influences and probably, it has to be said , my fondness for things Scottish and echoes of my personal history.

Roddy Woomble as frontman obviously has a lot to answer for in that respect. His solo album of a couple of years back - My Secret is My Silence - was one of those genuinely beautiful albums, the folkiness a refreshing counterpoint to some of the Idlewild material, the quality of the songs, the musicianship and all that jazz. It remains one of those few albums that have a particular place in my musical heart.

The new collaboration with Kris Drever and John McCusker, Before the Ruin, was either destined to be a further slice of that pie or a bit of a mistake. Comprising Kris Drever (acoustic and electric guitars, vocals), John McCusker (violin, cittern, whistle and tenor guitar), Francis MacDonald (drums), Phil Selway (drums), Ewan Vernal (bass), Norman Blake (vocals), Heidi Talbot (vocals) and Roddy Woomble (lead vocals), it is no disappointment. Clearly different from the Woomble solo album, but in a similar vein, heartfelt music that will last

Haar to you to Mr Yorkston

Not sure why it has taken so long but I finally got a James Yorkston CD, the new 'When the Haar Rolls In', and a beautiful disc it is too. It seems a rather delicate offering in many ways, reinforced by his vocal style and the production. Although it is all skillfully played there is a sense that he didn't waste energy endlessly polishing and tweaking the final sound - not that this is a criticism, its quite refreshing really.

The lyrics are more like prose poems than the usual song lyrics and consequently manage to put over stories with sentiment and feeling rather than forcing unecessary rhymes and wotnot. 'The Capture of the Horse' being especially evocative for me.

The bunch of chaps that help out on instruments and vocals, collectively called the Athletes, help render the nu-folk scottish flavour well. As if it needed it, folk royalty in the form of Norma and Mike Waterson add their considerable qualities to 'Midnight Feast', itself written by Lal Waterson.

How good it is to have, for a change, a set of music which not devoid of instant pleasures, actually allows the listener the chance to listen and discover more at each turn - this is the music that lasts, quality will out in the end