Stop the Clocks – It’s The Hours!

It's a huge living room.

I can’t imagine few full-sensed people forgetting their first meeting with Anthony Genn and Martin Slattery, the two figures that make up the anthemic Hours. We’ve just sat down on the plush leather seats of the Radisson foyer in Glasgow, and already Genn is off on his favourite hobby – talking. Fortunately, it’s not talking for no reason, for, like every lyric new album, See the Light, Genn’s words are informed and informative, impassioned and incensed, and most of all, personal.

He regales at length about the quality of the artwork in show in the hotel, celebrating an exhibition of the work of Peter Blake – the man behind the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club band. Each word jumps with fevered passion for the subject, and it’s no surprise. Blake and Genn are long-time friends, with the somewhat manic rock star and the artist, now in his seventies, even sharing a memorable trip to Glastonbury to see Paul McCartney.

“I said to him, ‘Pete it’s really muddy there, so make sure you’re wearing old clothes.'” tells Genn. “Then we he turned up, he was wearing the exact same posh black suit and white shirt he always does. He’s like Eric Satie. He just wears same clothes everywhere.”

The Dawn Chorus – Exposure

The Dawn Chorus – Exposure

They made the greatest album of 2008 you probably never heard, but it’s not too late to love The Dawn Chorus. Taking influence from Bright Eyes and Wilco, their debut, The Big Adventure, is most blissful, fascinating alt-folk since I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning – not bad for some high-school teachers from Portsmouth. Headlining Glastonbury beckons, but for now, it’s Dexter’s in Dundee, and a chat with The List. Guitarist, Neil Elliot, does the talking.

NMS Interview

Interview with Big Dada’s NMS for my dissertation.  Interesting young man.

Metric – Fantasies

Metric – Fantasies

Four albums in and Canadian quartet Metric are finally maturing into the brilliant synth influenced indie they’ve only hinted at before. Where previous works have been scrappy affairs, lifted by one or two moments of fierce emotion from singer, Emily Haines, Fantasies fulfills the remit of such passion for every member and every moment.

Speech Debelle Interview

Speech

A few words from Speech Debelle, a very interesting young hip-hop star who has helped me out by answering a few questions for my dissertation. 

65daysofstatic Q and A

Who's playing?

Sheffield has given us its fine share of indie-pop (see Arctic Monkeys, Pulp, Richard Hawley), but in the murkier depths of the steel city lurks a more experimental noise rock, full of static and surprise, and blissfully free of kitchen-sink dramas. 65Daysofstatic are the enigma British music, taking elements of Aphex electronica, then turning up the distortion and bringing post-rock confusion to the fore. And brilliantly so. Scott Barlett answers the questions.

Trembling Bells Q and A

Moody

Bewitching and beguiling, Trembling Bells are the Glasgow folk band whose music conjures up bonfires, nature and Britt Ekland dancing in the buff.  For this is a band who forgo a pop rigmarole, harking back to traditional folk roots, telling stories and chilling bones with Lavinia Blackwall’s haunting voice.  Drummer and songwriter, Alex Neilson (a man who’s worked with Will Oldham amongst others) explains the folk phenomenon.

Health Q and A

Lads and colours

Health are excellent, young electro-pop-rocking sorts from L.A. who make bright, confusing music.  Here are some words I had with John, who does the odd bit of shouting, singing and guitaring.  Listen to them!

Life Update 1 21/03/09

This has been my week.  Not my actual week.  My thoughts on that week, converted into words and typed onto a laptop and transmitted across the Internet through the most annoying, infuriating blogging site there is and ever will be.  Anyway:

The Hours – See the Light

The Hours – See the Light

They’re debut album threatened to establish Anthony Genn and Martin Slattery as stars in their right, after years as the nomads of British music, playing with everyone from Black Grape to Elastica, via Pulp and the legendary Joe Strummer as part of The Mescaleros. It had the quality you’d expect from such esteemed professionals, but it sadly never took off in the way it perhaps deserved.

This, their second album, even more powerful and dynamic than the first, is their chance to address that issue, as the world wakes up to see the light, and to hear The Hours.