Souled Out In Essex

Two days full of the good stuff was on order for this August
Bank holiday, starting off at the Lobster Smack for Soul 
By The Jetty as sorted out by Jonny and Messy and
"The Reverend" Brian Kelly from Zero Radio.

Many of the Margate/Caister crowd showed up and along with
special guest DJ Nick Aravis from Solar Radio, the disk spinners

failed to disappoint.

Not least because they played the new Gregory Porter remix
by Gerardo Frisina amongst many other belters.

A few illustrations showing the chaos caused;

DJs Jonny Layton and Mark "Messy" Messent.



Soul Syren Denise shakes things up.


Special guest Nick Aravis gets in on the act.



How the crowd will react when the disk spinner
sticks an Earth Wind and Fire track on.



Lizzie, displaying the "must-have item" of the weekend.

Sunday afternoon saw me Romford bound and I arrived rather
early to see Sandra C from Stomp Radio get things going
at the Victoria pub for what may be the last of this year's
bank holiday soul sessions.

It was good to meet some new faces as well, namely 
"Dancing Debbie" and Sarah who were really lovely,
and not scared to tell things straight.

 

Hilarious as they were, I'll spare the comments from my blog.



It was also good to meet Sandra's sister Dawn AKA "Drumstix"
pictured above on the right who also brought along her
children Tamla and Cole who ended up staying longer than I did.

Once again the music was superb attracting a lively crowd.









I left just before 10pm and managed to get the last train
from Stratford going straight to Canterbury, although
the side effects of the many cans of Red Alert energy drink
had me in a comedown state which I've yet to recover from.

Though in the long run, it's going to take quite a while
to get over it all, until my next set of soulful outings that
I hope they'll be more of this year.

Three Tuns Of Mosh

On my arrival at the New Inn last night, it appeared that the 

noise police had made their mark. 

After reducing Thursday's headline act to an acoustic set, I got

wind of the fact that the bands set to play last night had been
moved to the Three Tuns pub in the centre of Canterbury.

In terms of space it was probably the right idea.

First up were the W.O.T.S. who you could argue are
Right Said Fred having woken up on the wrong side of the bed.

 

Their set provoked a fair bit of moshing which I tried to stay
out of the way of and inevitably failed.







Up next were the Half-Wits, and save for the lead singer's
malfunctioned mic, it was a good fun set, and provoking
an even greater anarchic response.











You certainly wouldn't have got behaviour of that scale
at the New Inn, what with their more than cramped beer garden.

I'm not sure if my body can cope with any further moshing however,
so it's just as well that The Lobster Smack in Canvey Island
is my main destination tonight for the August Bank Holiday
Soul By The Jetty event where I expect to be reunited
with many of those who showed up in Margate earlier this month.

I'm really hoping that one of the tunes getting a spin will be this
new re-working of Gregory Porter's "1960 What" by Gerardo Frisina.



Already it's causing a stir, and starting to fill floors.

More photos to come for certain.

Squeezing In At The Inn

A potentially exciting music-filled Bank Holiday commenced yesterday
in the first of two locations I'll be frequenting over the space of four days.

Oddly enough, neither of them are Leeds and Reading.

The New Inn in Canterbury was the first destination where over
the weekend they're holding a beer festival, complemented by
some of the finest punk acts this side of the Stour, with
the first of them being Irish folk/pirate act
Captain Bastard And The Scallywags.

A band taking cues from Flogging Molly, and The Dropkick Murphys,
last night was the maiden voyage for their latest tour to
promote their new EP and they gave of a really good set.

In addition to their own material they also did a Celtic interpretation of
"The Ace Of Spades" although they claimed it was a tune they

wrote themselves called "Raisin Face".

A few shots of the musicians in action;





Lead singer Andrew Keech, or just plain old Keech.

Acoustic guitar player Tom, who was energetic throughout.

Despite performing outside, the beer garden was 

absolutely cramped to the point that at one moment
Kenny the bass player was crouched in the corner.



It didn't help that they were told to keep the noise down
by those living nearby which has me feeling a bit uncertain
as to whether the Half Wits will be able to perform tonight.

They were also present at proceedings, alongside Stuart and Aaron
from Ted Dibiase, who's set in Sheerness on Saturday I'm missing
due to my soul outing in Canvey Island.

Aaron told me I could just walk across the water from Essex
to reach Sheerness, which sounds like a feat worth trying.

Despite the cramped conditions, Captain Bastard won't
be gone from Canters for too long as The Beercart Arms is
their destination this coming Tuesday so I may pop over then.

That said, if the noise police haven't interfered, I shall be
back at the New Inn later tonight to watch the Half Wits
disturb the peace.

The Listening List - W/E 18.08.12

A Sound British Adventure - BBC Radio 4, 14.08.12

It's interesting when dissecting electronic music to discover
that most of the quirky noises and effects start off as man-made
sounds.

Those with a good ear for noticing melodic effects from every day
objects have turned them into experimental pioneering music
and this programme looks into the lesser-heard masters of the art form.

Presented by Stewart Lee, the programme divulges into the work
of Tristram Cary and Peter Zinovieff and how their quirky compositions
were initially lost on radio listeners when used to provide the
soundtrack for the BBC's dramas in the 1950s but soon became
commonplace and lead to the inauguration of the BBC's Radiophonic
Workshop.

Interviewees include Mark Ayres, best known for his scores for Doctor Who
in the late 80s although he never got to re-arrange the famous theme
music despite his knowledge and his enthusiasm for electronic music
as a whole.

Whilst it may not be everyone's melodic cup of tea, it's a revealing
insight into how such bizarre aural compositions found their feet
on the wireless and small screen and made it's way into pop music.

Best listened to through headphones for full effect.

From Sunburst To Sunburnt

An escape from the antagonisms of Canterbury was on the agenda
last night with visit to The Jazz Cafe to see Joey Negro and
The Sunburst Band performing a gig to promote their latest
album "The Secret Life Of Us".

Before arriving at the venue I met up with "Soulful Scotsman"

Stephen at the regular pre-gig drinking ground The Oxford Arms
and on arrival at the Jazz Cafe we were joined by his partner
Elaine who I haven't seen for years.

The band themselves were on fantastic form with Julian
Crampton on bass,



Tony Remy and his talking guitar



And the two superb live vocalists Pete Simpson and Donna Gardier





The set sped by lasting 90 minutes, and it was consistent
from start to finish.

Many tunes from the latest album were performed as
well as old favourites such as "Fly Away", "Everyday",
and a cover of David Bendeth's "Feel The Real" that
got the Jazz Cafe audience joining in.

My personal highlight however was the encore which involved
a live rendition of the Brenda Russell cover "In The Thick Of It"
which almost had me in tears.

Doesn't often happen at gigs but it has to be one of the
top tunes of 2012.

I headed home minutes after the gig had finished to get the
11pm train back to Canterbury, but I'm not too gutted about
missing Joey Negro's DJ set as he'll be heading over to Margate
in November to spin the discs at the West Coast bar.

As a whole it was a night where I could once again put
the shit to one side and have a good time in the company
of like-minded musically-minded people.

Despite the fact I was absolutely sweating and
could have done with one of the band members towels.

Jingle No More

It's about time I gave my take on a topic that one could argue is
desperately filling the column inches, but for the radio fans is like
an early Christmas present.

That being the many articles posted in the papers and online
about Nick Grimshaw's new breakfast show for Radio 1 and how
the brief for the imaging requires for it to "steer cleer of sung jingles".

Media Guardian Article

BBC News Article

James Todd Blog Post

The one thing that gets me is how everyone's treating this
like it's a new development to the station, when in fact
it's not the first time a breakfast show on BBC Radio 1,
or Radio 1 station-wide has abandoned sung identification.

Many anoraks (and I will call them that) mourned the loss
of JAM jingles on the station in 1995 when to coincide with
the introduction of Chris Evans hosting breakfast
the Nirvana and Shaggy sound-alike 1FM IDs were replaced
by industrial inspired soundscapes with witty spoken liners.

Moving back up to date, the time-frame in which the
potential clients have been given to submit audio is pretty
short considering the new show commences in less than a month
but in no way does that mean the imaging cannot evolve.

Overall it's going to be a different type of show, more focused
towards Radio 1's demographic and the identification is just a part of it.

More importantly it will help the station be more consistent
all of the time, whereas with Moyles it's like a completely
different station altogether.

Thankfully with Vernon Kay standing in on Breakfast they've
abandoned the Chris Moyles sung imaging for this week so at
least it won't be so much of a sudden shock when Moyles
ditches breakfast in the long run.

Kim's Closing Calamity

For such an amazing two weeks, I'm not sure we deserved an Olympic
closing ceremony that undermined the strengths of the event, even
if Paul McCartney was missing from the bill.

It looked as if the aim was either to send itself up, or go for the
mediocre acts who were of their time as opposed to timeless.

Who still likes the Kaiser Chiefs?

And as for the Spice Girls performance, if they can get Boris Johnson
dad dancing, then that says it all.

Save for a commendable performance by Gary Barlow along with
Take That, and a strong finale from The Who, I felt rather
depressed throughout the three hour performance which went
to show how superior Danny Boyle's opening ceremony was compared
to Kim Gavin's effort.

Though I'm not sure if "effort" is the right word.

I even tried my best to avoid Twitter as there's only so many
cynical tweets one can read, which don't make things any more
amusing.

Which beggars the question are the people I follow on the site
permanently sarcastic, or is that just the state of Twitter as a
whole?

Closing ceremony aside, it's going to be quite a comedown
to get over, and on a personal level I start to realise just how
angry I am with everything around me.

A visit to the Job Centre this afternoon being one such
aggravation where they just want to rub it in when
interviews or applications have been unsuccessful.

Though I could ask if I should take that as a small
price to pay in exchange for my benefit money?

The way to solve such issues is to make sure you're
in the company of people who inspire you and want you
do really well.

Only that there's not many of them in Canterbury.

It may be a case of saving up for 6 months rent so I can
move out and find somewhere to live by myself and hopefully
have more confidence in finding a money earner.

It may take a year to do so, and a lot can happen within a year
but I'm sure something will work out.

The Listening List - W/E 11.08.12

JA In The UK - BBC Radio 1Xtra, 05.06.08

As part of the ongoing celebrations of Jamaica's 50 years
of independence, 1Xtra offers an uptempo analysis of
the culture's influence on British shores and the dominance
of dancehall in club culture.

Narrated by Vis, the documentary looks towards Jamaica's
influence beyond music and how residents from the country
moved to the UK in the 1950s onwards looking for new opportunities
and adapting to and redefining British culture.

It's important that the programme doesn't focus solely on London
looking into Jamaica's impact in places such as Luton, Manchester,and how  people adjusted to British life when moving to those towns.

Add to that interviews with acts such as Ms Dynamite
and Wretch 32, it's a revealing insight into what influenced
those who are continuing to inspire a new generation of dancefloor
acts.

What I found most interesting was how the Notting Hill Carnival
was founded as a response to race riots in the early 1950s,
prompting me to look for more background into the event.

Once again, all of the above fits into the conventions of a
radio music documentary allowing the listener to generate
their own mental image, where it sounds like the listener in this case
is walking through a street market and approaching
the interviewees along the way, accompanied by a soundtrack 
of old and new West Indian beats.

To cut that paragraph short, there's a great flow throughout,
fitting in with the station style of 1Xtra.

Synchronised In Stratford

It's not often that the public turn out in their thousands to view individuals,
most of whom aren't known by name, but their incredible skills and talents
are the selling attraction.

The Olympics succeed in providing exactly that, and yesterday I made my
way back to my birthplace of Stratford with Mum, Dad, my Mum's mother and
we met up with Kate to attend the finals of the Synchronised Swimming duets.















What impressed me the most about our visit  to Olympic village was that despite the large crowds, it was fairly easy to get around, especially regarding the fact that you didn't have to queue to get into the Aquatics Centre itself.

We made our way there after having lunch at the Park Live area
where on the large video screen we saw the Brownlee Brothers
winning their Gold and Bronze medals respectively for the triathlon,
making them the first siblings to win medals in an Olympic event.















As for the synchronised swimming it was superb, 
even surprising those who many not have been sure about it in the first place.
But even from as high up from where we were sat, it looks even better in real life than it does on television.















Amongst the twelve taking part, the stand-outs were routines from Russia,
Canada, Spain, and China, the Canada one being particularly notable
for the well-positioned cartoon sound effects to accompany the dives.

It was a close contest with China winning bronze, Spain getting Silver
and Russia winning Gold.
As for Great Britain, we came 9th, although to be fair our programme
was a lot less memorable compared to those who won the medals.

As a whole, I very much doubt I'll be in such a special position again
where I can say I attended the games. It was definitely a special opportunity.

Unless of course I want to spend a vast amount of money
on a visit to Rio in four years time.

The Jolly Soul Boys (And Soul Girls) Outing

The otherwise quaint seaside surroundings of Margate gave way to an enthusiastic gathering of music lovers from various corners of British shores for the Margate Soul Weekend for three days of the good stuff.

Well, I was only present for two of them but it was really enjoyable

and was in the company of some really delightful people, sharing

the enthusiasm for the good stuff.

This year's event was even bigger than the one before, as 

midway through the Saturday there was a live brodacast from

Solar Radio as pictured below with James Anthony holding the reigns.

Also taking to the stage were live performances from Ingrid Mansfield Allman from Brit Funk band Freeez, Gee and Nat from
Light Of The World and James "D Train" Williams as shown below.

When it came to venues you were spoilt for choice, as the Rokka provided
some amazing soulful house, and the Britannia bar just up the hill was
offering a blend of reggae.

Most of my antics however took place at the Westcoast Bar where 
DJ sets were provided by Solar Radio's Roni O'Brien, Caister veteran Tony Matthews and percussion playmates Jonny And Messy.

As well as a special guest appearance from the legendary Greg Edwards, formerly of Capital Radio's Soul Spectrum, and Jazz FM.

Some really good tunes got played with the usual favourites 

such as Mario Biondi's "This Is What You Are" as well current stufflike the Sunburst Band's new album, the Opolopo mix of Gregory Porter's"1960 What?" and a latin filled offering from Gerardo Frisinawhich for many defined the weekend.

Not to mention the interesting characters getting down to the tunes including a gathering dressed up as characters from Only Fools and Horses.

 

Here's some of the other punters I bumped into during my stay;

Myself and DJ Pete Collins getting down to Ingrid Allman's live performance.

Morag, a lively visitor from Burnley with a lovely Lancashire 
accent to match.

And the first lady of soul, Miss Roni O'Brien from Solar Radio.

Had it not been for the alterations to public transport,and having a radio show to present I would have stayed on the Sunday, and I am certain that in 2013
I shall be present for the whole stretch.
Although if I can't wait that long, maybe a visit to Caister will be on the cards?

As a whole I loved being there, and it re-ignited my love for the finest classiest music to move to.

The Listening List: W/E 04.08.12

Johnny Vaughan Live From Hyde Park - Absolute Radio, Daily

A much awaited return to the wireless for Johnny Vaughan
courtesy of Somethin' Else and Absolute Radio where alongside
co-host Tiffany Cherry, the presenter gives a informed,
irreverent take on the Olympics.

The show follows the traits of Vaughan of getting right
into the games from the listener's point of view where
rather than just giving analysis on the games themselves,
Johnny probes into the habits of armchair spectators offering
prizes for the most physically active sofa athletes.

Whilst offering an impressive list of sporting and musical guests,
it's Johnny's energetic enthusiasm that kept me listening
and with wall-to-wall coverage of the games everywhere else,
it's nice to have a more off-beat perspective, with the
potential to entertain those who may not be as interested the event.

The show as a whole managed to achieve the impossible, in tempting
me away from Eddie Mair for two weeks.

Destination Africa - BBC Radio 1Xtra, 29.07.12

Not long ago I was watching an interview on the BBC News Channel
with Nigerian performer Baaba Maal where one of the subjects discussed
was the influence of American hip-hop and R&B taking dominant
presence in African music, over traditional acts from the continent
such as Salif Keita, and Youssou N'Dour.

It prompted me to give DJ Edu a go on 1Xtra where every Sunday
he provides a showcase of the latest African rhythms which sound
like they have been tailor-made to fit in with the rest of the station
as a whole.

I.E dropping electronic FX and airhorn noises over the records.

The stopless selection of tunes takes a breather about 50 minutes
in where we're treated to an interview with Josette about the upcoming
African Fashion week in London, and later on there's a chat with
Nigerian performer Sasha P and her story of transporting the Olympic
torch in the relay up to London.

The interviews aren't drawn out for too long and fit in with the
flow of the programme as a whole and as a whole it's tightly
produced.

It would be nice however to have a programme showcasing a
wider range of African music other than just urban and hip-hop,
on a national level.

Maybe DJ Ritu, formerly of BBC London could host a series on
BBC Radio 2 doing for world music what David Rodigan has
done for reggae, and Gloria Estefan's latin series to name a few.

Wallace And Gromit - Feet Of Clay - BBC Radio 3, 29.07.12

In this edition of the Twenty Minutes strand Michael Rosen
is Bristol-bound to the studios of Aardman to meet the animators
behind the world-famous if slightly timid, plasticine pairing.

Rosen being the ideal choice of presenter manages to produce
many a mental image of the animated characters on his guided
tour of the studios with the help of audio from the films of duo,
along with vintage footage of Tony Hart's right hand man Morph.

The description of Wallace as "damp" perfectly matches
the character's slow hapless voice reminiscent of Gary Barlow.

With the documentary produced to coincide with the plasticine
prom "orchestrated" by the duo it's good to hear an interview
with composer Julian Nott who penned the music for all the
Wallace and Gromit films.

Most revealing of all is the explanation of materials made
to make the specific parts of the models such as Wallace's
green resin pullover and numerous body parts for the facial
expressions.

Considering the length of time taken to produce one second
of animation, the twenty minute length of the programme
ensures that it doesn't become stale, and Michael Rosen's
enthusiasm ensures the listener's attention won't be diverted.

The River Olympics

I was Chartham bound yesterday for a birthday outing for two special people;

Helen,

and Emma.






 










Most of those in attendance were new faces to me, but we got on pretty well and I managed to prove that even with very little alcoholic intoxication, I can still act like a complete idiot.

One guy who was on good form was George who I found at had a vivid memory of listening to Caesar the Boogieman many years ago, in particular the "Aerial Head" jingle based around Mozart's "Ronda Alla Turk".

Rather fitting that the man himself is making a return to the airwaves
tonight on the new community station SFM in Sittingbourne.

Most of the afternoon in Chartham was spent throwing rocks into the river in
an attempt to splash Helen as much as possible.

As we made our way to the Artichoke pub, we came across a tyre swing
which a few of us had a go on, and after a fair bit of coaxing, I opted to brave the tyre.
 

The plan was to head back over to Sturry for a barbecue, but a craving to get
back to Canterbury as soon as possible saw a change of plan and Emma was
kind enough to make a delicious spag bol for everyone which went down really well.

I didn't stay for too long in Canterbury town but it was a superb day as a whole and a warm up of sorts for next week, when I'm set to get even more boozed at The Margate Soul Weekend.

The Listening List: W/E 28.07.12

A Musical Map Of East London - BBC Radio 2, 24.07.12

A programme about East London, and the music to have emerged from it.

Well being from Newham myself (and still longing to return to the city as a whole) it was impossible not to listen to the documentary even if it did cause have the potential to make me feel homesick to an extent.

All down to the fact that just walking down the street will give you a flavour
of the eclectic range of music from the city, which just doesn't happen in Canterbury.

Sorry, I'm straying again.
With singer Paloma Faith as our guide, the documentary takes a look at the many styles of music representative of East London from the music hall of the early 20th century, the ever-dominant reggae culture, to the soul-induced jazz of Gregory Porter as well as visiting venues such as Wilton's Music Hall and The Hoxton Pony in Shoreditch.

It's good to hear the majority of audio recorded entirely on location, adding the element of allowing the listener to feel they're right there, therefore managing to cure my homesickness, sort of.

Overall it's Paloma that makes the documentary worth listening as a whole,
with her overall charm, bubbly persona, and passion for one of the
most inspiring musical cities.

"People Are Coming, Everyone's Trying"

7 years and 3 weeks ago, I was in the front room watching the announcement
that London would be hosting the 2012 Olympics.

Tonight I will be in that very same room watching tonight's opening ceremony
on the television which looks set to be quite a spectacle, even if
it's hinted to have shades of Eurovision.

I thought I'd be really agitated and stressed regarding the hype surrounding
it all, but I'm actually rather relaxed and looking forward to it, even if
I won't commit myself to watching it non-stop.

That said I'm certain it will get to me when I make a visit to London
with the rest of the family in a couple of weeks, where we'll be seeing
the finals of the synchronised swimming.

The public transport is complete chaos as it is, even buggering up
the high speed trains up to Ramsgate, though knowing about it
in advance may make it less stressful on the day itself.

For an event of this scale, there's no time for whingeing, cynicism,
and moaning. I'm just going to let the games flow, and hope
Team GB get maybe one or two gold medals?

Nah, we'll do even better.

Ted Dibiase And The Million Dollar Charity Fundraiser

Alright, that might be an overstatement.

However the act mentioned in the title of the blog were part of
an amazing day last Saturday at the Ivy in Sheerness where them
and many other bands managed to raise £1200 for The Freedom Centre,
a local charity working with people with cerebal palsy.



And the weather couldn't have been better, with most of the time spent
in the boozer's beer garden.

I'd go as far as saying that this was the best performance
that I've seen of TDMDPB, with really good acoustics, plenty of space,
and as you'll see below a lot of fake cocaine thrown in.

The boys arrive in style.

 

"Now Then, Now Then"

Coked up.

As great a night it was, I opted to turn it in after 9, to avoid the rougher side of Sheerness I've heard about although it didn't mean I had a hangover the next morning. 

I think I'm still recovering actually.