Event: Ducks Deluxe feat. Brinsley Schwarz

A 40th ANNIVERSARY PUB ROCK EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Following the closure of the Nags Head Blues Loft in High Wycombe , all forthcoming classic rock events booked there will henceforth move to the Arts4every1 Centre.

First up? A return to the wonderful days of pub rock, Sean Tyla's rollicking combo Ducks Deluxe are back! Special guest is the equally renowned, some may say legendary, Brinsley Schwarz - not the whole band, sadly, but the guitarist who formed the band and gave them their name. One of the original and best Brit pub rocks bands, Ducks Deluxe tore up the script and brought rock & roll back to the people with tracks like Coast to Coast, Fireball, Don't Mind Rockin Tonight and Daddy Please, Please, Please and It's All Over Now.

Formed in February 1972, with ex Brinsley Schwarz roadie Martin Belmont on guitar, former Help Yourself collaborator Sean Tyla, also on guitar, and Help Yourself bassist Ken Whaley, drummer Tim Roper and former Flamin' Groovies roadie Nick Garvey. Playing more energetic music than most others on the London pub-rock circuit, the Ducks recorded two tracks at Man's Christmas party, one of which, "Boogaloo Babe", was released on a double 10" album Christmas at the Patti, their first appearance on record. In 1973 the band signed to RCA and released their first single, Coast To Coast, written by Sean Tyla and Nick Garvey. The debut album Ducks Deluxe was released in early 1974, and "captured something of the fire and excitement that the Ducks' live act' This was followed by Taxi To The Terminal Zone. The band recorded its first Peel Session in April 1974 and former Nashville Teens bassist Micky Groome joined.

Ducks Deluxe toured all over Europe became stars in France and promptly quit with a final show at the 100 Club in 1975. They started out in 1972. Then they took a sabbatical for a while...When they re-formed the band permanently in 2008, Martin Belmont and Sean Tyla wanted to return to the Ducks Deluxe's original format as a two guitar rock and roll band. Unfortunately, drummer Tim Roper had tragically passed away in 2006 and bassist Nick Garvey had declined to sign on again. Into the breach came the awesome rhythm section of Jim Russell, formerly of the Wild Angels, The Inmates and Scotty Moore Trio and ex-Doll By Doll, Jackie Leven bass maestro, Kevin Foster. They are joined by a very special guest, good friend and one-time Duck, Brinsley Schwarz on guitar. They will be airing some old Ducks material as well as a handful of Brinsley Schwarz favourites from back in the day.

DUCKS DELUXE
SUNDAY AUGUST 26 2012 
@ ARTS4EVERY1 CENTRE, ST JOHN'S CHURCH, DESBOROUGH ROAD, HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKS, HP11 2PU
www.arts4every1.com, TEL: 01494 445517
DOORS 7PM

TICKETS £10 ADVANCE FROM
www.wegottickets.com, www.stargreen.com, www.ticketweb.com, Counter Culture Records (Wycombe) and Ruby Moon (Wycombe)

Nearest station: High Wycombe (Chiltern Rail) Nearest tube: Amersham (Met Line and Chiltern Rail) then no. 4, 52 or 62 bus to Wycombe town centre. Please refer to Sunday timetable.

Record Review - Jamestown Pagans

JAMESTOWN PAGANS

Inheritance EP
Download

This three-piece LA outfit may be labeled as prog rock but this four track 28 minute EP is full of open spaces and broad splashes of retro/classic rock stylings. The set kicks off with the 7 minute-plus 'For Release'. The guitar of Jacob Simpson and Christopher Hurt’s keyboard leads you gently into the song, setting the tone for the whole album (let’s face it, 28 minutes was near enough album length once upon a time) before the drums (Taylor Mills) hit and the tempo and the sound slowly but surely build.

'Mirrors' follows and for some reason I’'m reminded of that late 60s country rock sound that was so popular for awhile, more for the feel than the actual sound but it’s there in the spaces, the guitar tone, the splash of organ. That feeling continues with 'Waiting On The Wind', the interplay of guitar and keys so sweet and pure before the 9 minute 30 second finale 'Crumbling'  gives prog rock a modern face, slowly building up with Hurt again leading the way on organ, filling in the gaps and proving you don’t need a slashing guitar solo to rock hard and fittingly it’s the keyboard that finishes the song and the album. 

With no fancy gimmicks, no sampling, no tricks, Jamestown Pagans are a breath of fresh air, just three guys playing music, stretching out and leaving space for your imagination, space to breathe and space to hear the music. Prog rock never sounded so refreshing.

Kami Mcinnes

Numero Group announce Eccentric Soul Omnibus Volume 1

45th RELEASE FROM VENERABLE ARCHIVAL LABEL IS BOXSET OF 45 45s FROM MOST WILD, OBSCURE, OUT OF CONTROL SOUL PERFORMERS - COMING OCTOBER 23rd

  

Synopsis: 45 7" singles from the dustiest corners of the United States, replicated down to the tiniest detail. Housed in a custom Numero-patterned 45 box, replete with metal hardware and handle. Clothbound hardback book with a word count of almost 50,000, covering the bizarre histories of each group, the early history of Numero, plus an absurdly detailed series of indices. 

Background: Back in early 2003, when Numero was still in an embryonic state, the labels' inaugural release was envisioned as a 10-disc, 20-artist pile of peculiar soul 45s, packaged in a cardboard clamshell mailer. It was cobbled together from what, at the time, seemed like a unique selection of singles: off-key vocalists and over-the-top guitar soloists, one-piece string sections and piecemeal brass lines, each of them ostensibly helmed by a savant mad-scientist producer working in jury-rigged, barely functional studio conditions. Its working title was Eccentric Soul.

The imagined box of ten 45s was scrapped, replaced by Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label, the project that became Numero 001. From the wreckage of the original set, Altyrone Deno Brown turned out to be a bedrock voice, a central story, and the cover image on003, Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label; the Dynamic Tints brightened one small corner of Twinight's Lunar Rotation; and Lady Margo's "This Is My Prayer" later found a home inside Pepper's Jukebox, the double LP that accompanied Michael Abramson's photography in 2009's Light: On The South Side hardcover book.

All 14 volumes of Eccentric Soul that pre-date this Omnibus sketch a given skein of connective tissue, but fully fleshed out here are the colorful strands linking any given record to untold others: untimely deaths, racial injustice, kid groups dimmed of charm by oncoming adulthood, military base installment, the bitter duty of Vietnam, the state of Alaska, tantalizing flirtations with fame. All of it is evidence that the darkened corners of the music business looked much the same in the pale light of Fresno, California, or Owensboro, Kentucky, or Benton Harbor, Michigan: record labels run by wannabe gangsters, managers with sticky fingers, radio promotion men funneling payola into disc jockey pet projects, marching bands turning into stage bands, youth centers turned into soul schools, and master tapes lost to fire, storm, and flood. Most of these 45s appear austere and simple at a glance, but every crude, hand-drawn logo, every missing or misspelled bit of crucial information, every malapropism-laden band name belies a deep well of unique history. PVC footholds in an uphill battle against badly stacked odds, these were records willed into existence through pure determination.

Omnibus Vol. 1 is an attempt at laying bare a tangled mess of loose ends that Numero (and cohorts) have been tripping over for years. Too disconnected and isolated from one another for expansion into full-length CD or LP projects, we've bound together 90 songs and 45 stories, cross-referencing each town and year of issue, and gathering it all into a compact and elegant monument to America's soul diaspora.

FOR MORE INFORMATION

http://www.numerogroup.com/ 

The Monkees announce US tour

AN EVENING WITH THE MONKEES
Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork To Perform

Their First Concerts Together In Fifteen Years

Twelve Exclusive Dates Announced For USA

LOS ANGELES – Michael Nesmith, Micky Dolenz, and Peter Tork return to the concert stage this November for a historic, twelve-date tour of the United States. These performances will mark their first concerts together since 1997. The jaunt kicks off at Escondido’s California Center for the Arts on November 8 and wraps at New York City’s prestigious Beacon Theatre on December 2. 

The trio’s shows are set to feature a selection of their classic hits (such as “Last Train To Clarksville,” “I’m A Believer” and “Pleasant Valley Sunday”), deep cuts from their first five platinum albums (including some performed for the first time since the 1960’s) and fan favorites from the soundtrack to their cult film classic Head and their Emmy^®-award winning television series. The show will encompass a full multimedia evening of music, rare films, and one-of-a-kind photographs.

Since the dates fall forty-five years on from their epic struggle to become legitimate music makers, the concerts will be highlighted by a set performed by just Nesmith, Dolenz and Tork. In 1967, the year the Monkees outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, they issued two #1 albums (Headquarters and Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd) which primarily featured the Monkees as a self-contained, musical unit. Each evening’s trio set will showcase numbers from these albums and present the Monkees’ electric garage band sound that they developed on their mid-1960’s tours. To open and close the show, the Monkees will be augmented by a stellar crew of players to play the hand-picked setlist each evening.

These dates comprise the first U.S. Monkees tour to feature Michael Nesmith since 1969. He has reunited with the group over the years; his last stateside concert with the band was a rare private show in support of 1997’s Justusalbum. These dates also follow the unexpected passing of their musical comrade Davy Jones in February. Plans call for Jones to be saluted in the show’s multimedia content.

Although Davy’s absence will undoubtedly be felt by the Monkees and their fans, these concerts will be an opportunity to share their memories amidst the music and the movies that brought them together. Moreover, the band look forward to performing for their many new fans who have discovered their music through repeats of their TV show on Antenna television, classic rock radio, or via social media. One thing is for certain, these concerts will be a once-in-a-lifetime series of shows that are not to be missed.

The Monkees 2012 Tour Dates

November
8                California Center for the Arts                Escondido, CA
9                The Arlington Theatre                           Santa Barbara, CA
10              Greek Theatre                                      Los Angeles, CA
11              Flint Center for the Performing Arts       Cupertino, CA
15              State Theatre                                        Minneapolis, MN
16              The Chicago Theatre                            Chicago, IL
17              Lakewood Civic Auditorium                 Cleveland, OH
18              The Center For The Arts                      Buffalo, NY
29              Keswick Theatre                                  Philadelphia, PA
30              State Theatre Regional Arts Center       New Brunswick, NJ

December
1                The Paramount                                     Huntington, NY
2                The Beacon Theatre                             New York, NY

Event Preview - Psychedelic Sunday

The London "psych" scene is as united and visible in 2012 than in any other time in recent memory, with an incredible amount of bands and events springing up. Psychedelic Sunday at The Lexington is one of the better examples.

Co-organised monthly by The Hall Of Mirrors and The Hypnotic Eye, it's been packing them in on that most sacred of days. It's the perfect opportunity for the hosts to roadtest new material and invite their favourite peers along. This Sunday, August 12, sees Charlie Boyer and The Voyeurs bring their arty sound (think Television and Syd jamming) to Angel, alongside flower punk upstarts The Kumari.

All the details can be found on the Facebook event page.

Live Review - KPM All Stars

KPM ALL STARS
Islington Assembly Hall, London, July 7

TIME CAPSULES. That's what it's all about these days. That and Proustian rushes. In other words, after several years as fan, promoter, DJ and journalist, I've come to the conclusion that most of us of a 'certain age' who still share a fascination for our formative eras are either attempting to find our way back to the past, or engender feelings of comfort only generated by certain aesthetics. Tonight's show was the most conclusive proof of this I've ever witnessed. All it needed was a fondue set, a wooden hi-fi unit set against an Axminster rug and brown patterned curtains, and a few glasses of Black Velvet, and we'd have been off.

As it stands, Islington Assembly Hall is one of the most unusual venues to recently crop up on the London gig circuit in the aftermath of the destruction of the Astoria: a mix of Victoriana, 1920s art deco (perfect for a 'lounge' gig then) and Crown Court ambience, right down to the red carperted stairs that lead to the most ostentacious gents bog I've ever used. On the downside, its acoustics need some working on, and it could do with a proper bar, as opposed to a table selling overpriced cans and bottles, but even so, it's blessed with a grandeur often absent in better known venues, which, again, is a crucial factor when you're dealing with musicians of this vintage and calibre.

For the benefit of international readers, who maybe never watched Dave Allen or The Big Match, it should perhaps be pointed out that KPM are the music library responsible for half the best-loved theme tunes of the 1960s and 70s, their horn-fronted sound gracing everything from sports shows to sexploitative horror films: if you were born in the UK or Northern Ireland between 1960 and 1980, the chances are you will be familiar with some of the work released under that banner. Their founders may be deceased now but its key composers - Keith Mansfield, John Cameron, James Clark and most of all Alan Hawkshaw - are still very much with us, and it's a privilege to see them performing live, which is something they would have rarely done at the time. Add to that the sartorial elegance involved - Mansfield the archetypal music teacher in tweeds and lightly swept grey sideparting, Hawkshaw still very much the Modfather in feathercut, white leather, corduroy and desert boots - and you have a banquet as visually stimulating as it is aurally mouthwatering. A soupcon of wry humour from all involved doesn't hinder matters either.

It's difficult, therefore, to know whether to approach this review from a musical standpoint, or that of a nostalgia obsessive: face it, when dealing with professional library musicians, many of whom conduct their own orchestras on a regular basis (and are also known, in Cameron's case, for sculpting the works of whimsical Scottish folk troubadours into psychedelic masterpieces or swaggering blues-metal anthems into rousing horn themes) it's already a given that the musicianship will be of the highest standard, so any criticism could be rendered irrelevant. And even with the British session musician/jazzer's hardy reputation for being able to drink their younger contemporaries under tables at regular intervals, it's still a pretty safe bet that in concert, professionalism will be the order of the day as opposed to any Thunders-esque debauchery or Keef-style shenanigans. So, with that covered, what can there be for a critic to critcise?

Well, OK, I personally would have loved to have heard more of Cameron's work, particularly from either Psychomania or CCS: in point of fact, he was only onstage, barring the encore featuring the entire cast in their massed ranks, for about fifteen minutes. Likewise, Hawk's back catalogue is so plentiful, it was a shame that several 'expected' tunes were jettisoned, but that could just as easily be said of all composers present, including drummer Brian Bennett, and anyway, how can you possibly do justice to such a prolific output within two hours? What we did get from each and all, including such meisterworks as 'Grange Hill', 'Funky Fanfare' and 'Girl In A Sportscar' more than amply made up for it anyway. If there was one gold standard that could not be bypassed, it was the inevitable 'Grandstand', played no less than THREE times in one evening, the last two as part of what can only be described as a loungecore mega-mosh. One can only surmise what the hapless security, dotted about the hall, made of the sight of people of all ages and varying dress senses dancing to said tune as if it were a stone classic of rock'n'roll (which to many of us, it is - check out the guitar solo from Mitch Dalton), but either way, they remained powerless to stop them. Even my perennial guest Plus One, never a big football fan, seemed enraptured. Maybe, just maybe, the 'golden era' of KPM, if it exists as a concept, represents in our minds a time when everything made sense? When one might have been able to AFFORD a groovy bachelor pad in West London? When men had huge sideburns and carcoats and women all looked like Sabina Franklyn or Linda Hayden? Oh, be still my beating loins.

And, with the exception of the dance DJ contingent checking out where their favourite 'breaks' came from, it's pretty safe to say that all present share that opinion- which is why (and this remains my only true criticism) the unctuous pillock with 80s hair 'compering', in the widest possible sense of the term. Not only did he rubbish the 70s in their entirety within 2 minutes of walking onstage (to massed jeers, I should point out) but he fluffed his lines, asked questions nobody knew the answer to, and delivered a variety of non-sequiturs that all the musicians involved seemed uncomfortable with. Next time, get rid of him and let someone from Shindig! do it. And seeing as internet mumblings, such as they are, seem to suggest they will be doing this again, could we make it sometime very soon? In the meantime, I shall plan my orange and white space age refurb, and go and polish my Schreiber sideboard in anticipation. Oo er, missus.

DARIUS DREWE SHIMON

Record Review - The Moons

THE MOONS

Jennifer (Sits Alone)/It's Too Late

Schnitzel CD/download

Something about The Moons' previous endeavours hasn't chimed with me. Despite their credentials (friends of Weller, produced by Edwyn Collins) and our shared geographical origins (go Cobblers!), they seemed to have inherited some of Dad-rock's worst habits, becoming unwitting victims of post-Britpop/Weller/Ocean Colour Scene cliqueness and that particular strain of neo-mod everyman popularity that leaves this listener cold.

So it was a genuine relief to hear 'Jennifer (Sits Alone)' announce itself via muted acoustic guitar and Spectoresque drums before embarking on a melodic journey that could have come straight off a mid to late ’60s Cat Stevens or Paul & Barry Ryan 45. Andy Crofts' vocal is refreshingly restrained and understated, so much so in fact that the whole performance threatens to disintegrate at the precise moment you'd expect a hugely bombastic chorus to appear and shatter the mood. The celestial combination of Mellotron and bona fide strings that emerge on the second verse only adds to the welcome sense of déjà vu.

'It's Too Late' is no slouch either, similarly dripping with ’tron-soaked goodness and boasting an intriguingly jumpy chorus that continues to keep me hooked.

A new album is imminent (in fact, I think it just hit my doormat!). I can only hope that it's further proof of The Moons learning to stand on their own 10 feet at last.

Andy Morten