Neil Cowley Trio - ‘The Face Of Mount Molehill’ (Naim Audio)
If the name Neil Cowley doesn’t ring a bell, some of the artists he’s worked with in the last year alone might ring a bell. Like the fact he plays piano on Adele’s 21, and has also worked with Emeli Sande and Michael Kiwanuka (winner of the BRITS Critics Choice and BBC Sound of 2012 respectively). But his own band, the Neil Cowley Trio are, understandably, where his passion lies.
Jazz gets a hard time from rock fans, despite the fact that certain names - Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and John Coltrane, for example, have always been hip names to drop. This album is twelve awesome tracks of Jazz with rock influences performed by the trio (which also includes Rex Horan on bass and Evan Jenkins on drums), which are very easy to love indeed.
Just listen to second track ‘Rooster Was A Witness.’ No atonal skronking brass here, just a hot as you like trio, supported by strings, playing a song that wonderfully evocative and without an inch of fat on it. Like the soundtrack to a cool film yet to be made, once heard, you’ll want to hear this again and again.
The Neil Cowley Trio are on tour in England in March and April with the Mount Molehill Strings
15th March, LONDON, Queen Elizabeth Hall
21st March CARDIFF, RWCMD
22nd March LIVERPOOL, Capstone Theatre
23rd March GATESHEAD, The Sage Gateshead
24th March LEEDS, The Venue
13th April BIRMINGHAM, CBSO
14th April SOUTHAMPTON, Turner Sims
26th April BRISTOL, St Georges
Although new to this blogger, the work of Grimes is not new to the world of music.
The work of Claire Boucher, she moved from Vancouver to Montreal, becoming involved in the DiY scene there. She’s about to release her fourth album in less than two years, entitled Visions, and this will be coming out one one of my favourite labels ever, 4AD.
The lead track doing the rounds is the single ‘Genesis’ which sounds nothing like the prog-rockers fronted by Messrs. Gabriel, Collins and whoever it was that was also in Stiltskin, but instead, her music sounds like a mix of mid-80s Madonna, Kate Bush, TLC and the Aphex Twin (sorry, I cribbed this last bit out of the NME. But here’s the thing: it’s so true!)
Check out out for yourself, this track is getting a lot of play round at 17 Seconds Towers. She may be all over the blogosphere at the moment - but I’m willing to bet she’ll be all over the en of year lists when they roll round (yet again).
Hugely impressed by their EP, The Flash, I asked LA’s FEVR PITCH if they’d be happy to speak to 17 Seconds.
Very, as it turns out…
17 Seconds: Please introduce yourselves.
Mark: I’m Mark Okoh, from London - make beats and do production. My background is in photography, but started making music about three years ago.
Kill Paris: I’m 25, I’m single. I come from some random place in the Midwest. I usually am the primary the sound designer, last in the factory line process, last at the bar, and longest lasting generally speaking.
Marty: Born and raised in L.A. and I’ve been playing in bands and playing instruments since I was 12, so I come from the most traditional background of the three of us I suppose. Playing in rock/funk/soul bands, busking the city streets, and producing/engineering for other pop/rock artists.
17 Seconds: How did FEVR PITCH come together?
Marty: Initially FEVR PITCH was just Mark and I - with Kill Paris living on the east coast and occasionally collaborating with us. Eventually we decided to fly him out to LA, and like a bad romance novel, there was instant chemistry. The three of us lived together for an ultra sketchy week of debauchery and occasional songwriting. We wrote a total of 7 songs, 4 of which were released as The Flash EP. Kill Paris finally came to his senses and realized he must move permanently to Los Angeles. The city would never be the same…
17 Seconds: Mark, how did you come up with the concept for the the video for ‘Running Away?’ ‘And how long did it take to make?
17 Seconds: Do you play live as a group? If so, how do you approach live performance?
Yep – it’s unique in that it’s a mixture of a DJ set and a live instrumental performance. Three laptops, and a boatload of instruments! We try to keep it eclectic and different than your typical DJ set.
17 Seconds: Do you DJ in and around LA?
Yes – we’re a newly formed group but we’re already in heavy rotation around Los Angeles clubs and bars, including Avalon, Bardot, MI6, etc.
17 Seconds: This is to each of you: what are the records (and other sources) that have most influenced you?
Mark: Discovery by Daft Punk, Vespertine by Bjork (Corey has a tattoo of the album cover..,), Moon Safari by Air, Fist of God by MSTKRFT, Demon Days by Gorillaz, Oracular Spectacular by MGMT, Blue Monday by New Order, ‘Looking for the Perfect Bea’t by Afrika Bambaataa, 4×4=12 by Deadmau5, Ni Silico by Pendulum, Blue Lines by Massive Attack
Kill Paris: what he said, also… And the Glass Handed Kites by Meu
Marty: Just As I Am by Bill Withers, Night at the Opera by Queen, Blood Sugar Sex Magik by RHCP, Thriller by Michael Jackson, What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye, Nevermind by Nirvana
17 Seconds: As well as FEVR PITCH, what other projects (if any!) are you currently involved in?
Mark: Always working on solo material – if it doesn’t fit the FEVR PITCH mold, I keep it for myself!
Kill Paris: Always putting out solo albums as well
Marty: I have one other project which is a soulful rock band, Bravesoul (www.bravesoulofficial.com). We just put out a new EP in December, produced by Mikal Blue (Jason Mraz, One Republic, etc.).
17 Seconds: Who - if anyone - do you consider to be your contemporaries on the music scene?
We’ve been compared to many different artists who use a mix of electro/dubstep along with a strong vocal presence, including Daft Punk, Gorillaz, MGMT, MSTRKRFT, Pendulum, Dada Life, Nero, Magnetic Man…
17 Seconds: How do you approach writing songs as a group?
ALL: In general Kill Paris or Mark will start a beat, and then that beat gets passed to Marty who will start writing topline lyrics and melodies. We tend to approach song concepts and general arrangements together as a group before lyrics are completely finished, and we all have a hand in layering tracks and adding new sections.
17 Seconds: What are your plans for future releases? Will we get an album this year?
ALL: You’ll get a whole load of new songs starting in January – we have a plan to release a new single every week for 5 weeks straight. We put so much into each track that it’s hard to release an album and have people only listen to the first half, so the strategy is to continuously release tracks for the next few months single by single. It also helps us keep in constant touch with fans! At some point this year however we do plan to release a full album, most likely including a few of our favorite singles as well.
2 Bears are Joe Goddard (who in his day job is one-fifth of Hot Chip) and Raf Daddy. The pair will shortly release their debut album Be Strong on January 30 through ultra-hip DFA Records, the label that was co-founded by LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, and over the years has given us music from LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Black Dice, Prinzhorn and Hercules & Love Affair amongst many others. In fact, when I worked for Fopp (and they still did loads of vinyl in the first half of the last decade), the DFA label on a 12″ was usually enough to pique my interest.
Anyhow, the lead track off the album is called ‘Work’ which sounds like one of those records that will deservedly fill not just the lists of hipsters and beard-strokers, but decent folk too, being able to hold its own with the best of the DFA catalogue and indeed much of Hot Chip’s back catalogue. The single is out now to download, there are remix EPs coming from names to drop like St. Etienne and Toddla T, around the time of the album’s release.
This is almost certainly going to make everyone who hears it fall in love with it.
Dead Wolf Club are (drum roll please): John Othello (vox/guitars), Alwin Fernandez (guitars), Martha Supajirawatananon (bass), and Serra Petalle (drums). They are about to release their debut, self-titled album on the label Scene Not Herd* - to whom they are the first signing - on February 1.
It might be because I’m feeling rather low because of the January weather, but their music hits you like a much needed hit of caffeine to both the ears and the soul, and makes me feel rather better about everything. Definitely what I need.
This is a free track doing the rounds called ‘Radar’. It’s rather good. Make sure you turn it up loud -and if you like it, let me know…
Hyperpotamus is the work of a man who calls himself H. Hailing from Madrid, Spain, but based in London, he describes himself as a multi-vocal solo artist. Which is a pretty accurate description, as he makes music using only his voice, a loop pedal and a few microphones.
So far, not just another singer-songwriter or indie-by-numbers band. Good stuff. Over the course of this thirty-four minute album, H does, however, become slightly harder to listen to. There’s no doubt that he has some fantastic ideas, and I have no doubt that he is absolutely mesmerising to watch and perform, as many of these artists are. But on CD, it becomes just a little bit much to take all in one go.
Worth hearing -and no doubt worth watching live. But slightly harder to digest all in one sitting, (and not a great album to listen to in the car!).
At the end of 2011, Nick Cave announced that Grinderman, his band who have released two albums, will be at least on hold, and that there are plans for a new Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds album. But what they will be doing is leaving us with a compilation called Grinderman 2 RMX, which will feature ‘a collection of remixes, reinterpretations & collaborations based on the songs contained in the band’s 2010 critically celebrated album Grinderman 2.’
The tracklisting looks like this:
Grinderman / Fripp - “Super Heathen Child”
A Place to Bury Strangers - “Worm Tamer”
Nick Zinner - “Bellringer Blues” (exclusive)
UNKLE - “Hyper Worm Tamer”
Joshua Homme - “Mickey Bloody Mouse”
Cat’s Eyes with Luke Tristram - “When My Baby Comes”
Barry Adamson - “Palaces Of Montezuma”
Silver Alert (featuring Matt Berninger) - “Evil”
SixToes - “When My Baby Comes” (exclusive)
Andy Weatherall - “Heathen Child”
Factory Floor - “Evil”
Grinderman - “First Evil”
This will be out on Mute Records on March 12.
This is the track doing the rounds as a stream - a remix from Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (who might also be back with us soon) of ‘Bellringer Blues’:
I receive a huge amount of submissions here at 17 Seconds - which is a privilege, but it does mean that there is an awful lot of stuff that I cannot get through. The best thing to do is usually to try and say something which will get my attention. A few years back, The Wildhouse put Josef K as the subject in his introductory email to me, knowing full well this would get my attention.
It did! And a month or so ago, I received an email from one Kalle Kaasinen of Joenssu, Finland, in which he mentioned his love of Suede, early Smashing Pumpkins and Jeff Buckley. It took me back fifteen years - and I gave all four tracks on the soundcloud a listen. He does indeed mix those acts together to produce something that mixes the sweetness of indie po with the let’s get dirty in our own way of both Suede and the Pumpkins (yes, those bands both sounded different. Listen to this and hopefully you will get the point).
I don’t know much more about him than that, but enjoy this music for what it is.
Edinburgh-based act The Occasional Flickers released their second album Home Is A Four-Letter Word back in November, but it’s only been, umm, today, that they’ve crossed my radar.
I say Edinburgh-based, as their facebook page describes them as being a pop band that began in Athens, Greece, but is now based in Edinburgh, Scotland (which is quite fitting, as Edinburgh is often described as the ‘Athens of the North’). Lead by Giorgos Bouras, the band are something of a collective, including Bart Owl of eagleowl, and indeed his bandmate Malcolm Benzie contributes to the album, too.
If this band remind me of any other act - and I mean this as a compliment - it’s probably Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci. Like that lamented act, this is a gorgeous pastoral album…and evokes a spirit far away from the harsh, dark Scottish winter that we’re currently enduring. That, of course, shouldn’t detract from the fact that the band are having an album launch this coming Friday (January 6) at the Third Door in Edinburgh, with support from the Second Hand Marching Band.
I wish I’d heard this album before now. Don’t make any excuses - just listen to it, realise how bloody great it is, and then go and buy it.
First Aid Kit are the sisters Klara and and Johanna Söderberg, who first came to prominence when they were only in their teens. This is their second album, the follow-up to 2010’s The Big Black & the Blue.
Though they hail from the southern suburbs of Stockholm, the sisters know their Americana roots. To this end, the album was produced by Mike Mogis of Bright Eyes, and the album’s final track ‘King Of The World’ was co-written by none other than Connor Oberst.
Despite what you might take from the above, there’s none of the excessive Bright Eyes droning on, nor is this country sung in the style of Abba. This album isn’t pioneering, but right from the opening title track, this is a delightfully warm album, that has had several plays already round these parts. And if the chorus of Emmylou doesn’t melt your heart ‘I’ll be your Emmylou and I’ll be your June/And you’ll be my Gram and your Johnny too’ well, you either have no heart and/or know absolutely nothing about country music. But they do also name-check Stockholm in the song, so they do have a sense about where they have came from, geographically as well as musically.
Fancy something different from run of the mill music? Why not give First Aid Kit a listen?
***1/2
The Lion’s Roar is released by Wichita on January 23.
ED
The rantings and ravings of a thirty-something music fan, from Edinburgh, Scotland.
I've been writing this blog since July 2006. I also write for Is This Music?. I've had my own show on Fresh Air radio, DJed in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and in 2008 set up 17 Seconds Records.
The best way is by this blog's own email address: seventeensecondsblog@hotmail.co.uk
I'm always up for featuring bands or artists on here, so get in touch. And if you represent one of the artists involved and would like me to remove the track, that's fine too (you will just lose some free publicity, as well as looking like Goliath picking on David). The mp3s posted here are for a short time only, a maximum of two weeks and are intended for people to evaluate the music, and not as a replacement for buying music. If you like what you hear, support the artists involved by buying the music, and going to shows, buying T-shirts etc.
Please note: I receive a lot of emails every day encouraging me to check out new bands, but it does take a while to get through them all.
Some music I love - and think you should check out too
