Unsigned Call From Over Hadrian’s Wall: Act 1 - Male Pattern Band

Today marks the start of a weekly post in which I fill you in about a new unsigned band from... Scotland (hence over Hadrian's Wall). Hope you enjoy it!

If you are in anyway a fan of the output of late ‘80s/early ‘90s Seattle label Sub Pop then read on! Glasgow's Male Pattern Band have the kind of lo-fi sensibility coupled with catchy hooks which could easily have been released through that label. Their recording ethos seems quite simple; hit ‘em with one take of distorted guitar, semi-pissed-off vocal, dry as hell drums and barely audible bass. The verses lull, the choruses scream and one gets the feeling this rabble spend half their time necking Glasgow's finest malt (or Buckfast) and the other half trying to convey the kind of sonic message that the likes of Yuck are having quite a bit of success with right now.

The band’s self confessed stance is “junkyard pop” (incidentally the name of their self-released 2010 EP) and one listen to the tracks Wilt and Raining (from that disc) leaves one with little argument against this summarisation.


The Junkyard Pop EP Artwork - Lo-fi visual art

Having had a couple of notable support slots for the likes of The Vaccines and The Smith Westerns, it seems MPB may be causing a bit of a stir in that easiest of arenas to do so: the indie underground and you can see why as this group do have some catchy tunes. It feels, as you listen to the rather crude recordings, that if they are produced in just a slightly more polished fashion, the kind of praise and success currently being eaten up by the aforementioned Yuck may be bestowed upon them as well.

As it is, MPB conjure up nostalgic memories of some of America’s greatest alternative and garage rock groups. Cable Cloth, also from The Junkyard Pop EP, has the slow-burning, heroin-chic glamour of The Velvet Underground, Pouring is a hybrid of Strokes-cool and The Stooges mayhem and The Last Supper has a Sonic Youth appeal juxtaposed with the ramshackle of The Libertines (British, I know).


The Male Pattern Band - Live!

Glasgow may not have the glamorous musical history of London, New York or New Orleans, but Male Pattern Band could be emerging at just the right time to change all that. Lo-fi is on the up again, maybe as a reaction to the last few years of silkily produced synth-pop and soul revivalism, and these young men (guitarist/singer/songwriter Chris Mcrory, bassist Craig Nock and drummer Gareth Wilson) could ride on the crest of this wave. They could, however, fall underneath its weight as so many of those late ‘80s/early ‘90s types did.

Email the band at: contact@malepatternband.com Check out their website where you can download the EP for free at: www.malepatternband.com

5 of the Best - Storms

I offer my deepest sympathies to all those affected by the Japan Tsunami and with that in mind offer 5 songs with natural disatsters, floods, storms, earthquakes and whatever else in the title, theme or lyric.

Bob Dylan - Hurricane: In Bob Dylan's rather extensive and brilliant back catalogue one can find many highlights. This number is certainly one. Written about the plight of boxer Ruben 'Hurricane' Carter the song tackles the issue of '60s racism like maybe no other.


Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's Gonna' Fall: Another Dylan classic from his superb Freewheelin' album.

The Doors - Riders on the Storm: Jim Morrison's eerie, haunting vocal leaves one with the proverbial brown stuff in the boxers and that riff! Undeniably beautiful, yet undeniably disgusting.

Led Zeppelin - When the Levee Breaks: The sheer force of Led Zeppelin's cover of Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie's blues belter is instant from pressing play. Led Zep manage to capture the true force of a storm in one song. It is the sonic representation of natural disaster.


Led Zeppelin

T-Bone Walker - Stormy Monday Blues: Another blues classic which quite literally scares the life out of me every time I hear it!

The Gospel's Little Brother

Just a quick post to say that I have set up another blog with some of my academic work on it, I kind of nicked the idea from my mate Ryan who's got his own academic blog at thealbatrossreivew.blogspot.com, check that out as well, it's very good. My academic blog can be found at lukeclohertyacademic.blogspot.com. Hope it is to your liking!

What I'm Into Recently

A quick glance through previous posts may well let you know about certain artists I like. Coverage of The Clash, Beatles, Eminem, The Smiths and MGMT was rife in the old regime... and may still feature heavily in the new one. This blog, however, as it is kicking off again needs to feature some other shit. So, here's a quick list of 3 acts I've got into heavily recently (one of them rather belatedly so).

1. Bibio - Warp Records in general have caught my interest recently. Having known about Warp for years as being a kind of weird, leftfield Electronica label and through admiration of Aphex Twin (probably the label's most well known artist) I can't believe it's only really been in the last year that I've developed any kind of further interest in the label. Anyway, Bibio is a relatively new artist on their roster whose 2009 debut Ambivalence Avenue is absolutely brilliant. Use of 'real noise', samples and distorting acoustic guitar parts give the record a really fresh, exciting feel. Check him out!


Bibio

2. Boards of Canada - BOC are another Warp act, but one which was around in the 1990s, rather than now. They heavily influenced Radiohead during the OK Computer and (especially) Kid A sessions and also influenced the abovementioned Bibio greatly. Fantastic.

3. Vieux Farka Toure - Son of world-famous Mali blues man Ali, Vieux is very promising. His 2009 album release Fondo showcases his fine guitar playing and emotive vocals and works really well as a whole piece. Fafa is the stand-out track so far in his canon but you just feel with Vieux that so much more is to come.


Vieux Farka Toure

I'm Back For Good (Not a Take That Reference)

Right, I'm back blogging and this time it's serious, no more quitting. I'm going to review new music, I'm going to run the feature on great songs and re-start the 5 of the Best things and post shit in general. Very soon I will be running an unsigned talent feature, just as soon as the guy who's meant to be sorting me out with a load to review gets back to me. So keep your eyes peeled if you follow (not many I know) and if you don't follow, then start!

Great Songs: Procol Harum - A Whiter Shade of Pale

Right, I'm going to write a weekly post on great songs from today onwards, starting with Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade of Pale and carrying on with great tracks from way back to modern day stuff, in no particular order or chronology. This post will be updated every Tuesday and will feature among other blog posts. So here goes nothing...

A Whiter Shade of Pale was released in 1967 and stayed at number one in the UK charts for six weeks! Not bad for a debut single.

I've always felt that this is the greatest song to ever be written about nothing in particular. I mean, the words mean nothing do they? "You skip a line fandango/turn cartwheels across the floor". What? But its not the songs lyrical content that makes it great. All that talk of waiters, sea-sickness and playing cards is rather psychedelic, yes, but life-affirming, no. What makes this song great is purely sonic...


That organ melody, those chord changes, why, it's actually Bach is it not? Doesn't matter, it's pure ecstasy, whatever it is. Timbrally, I've always thought of this song as being evangelical, it feels as if one day a rock band went to a church and recorded a track, but not just any old church, this one would have to be The Sistine Chapel or Westminster Cathedral or somewhere equally grand. The song's production gives it that. That slight echo, the feeling of all the instruments being crucial, the emotional vocal. It really has a feeling of togetherness.

Procol Harum knew what they were doing though, each member was a fine musician in his own right and thus, the song feels assured, like this was constructed out of nothing and was recorded in one take. Great pop music does that. All great pop has that effortless feel, it creates an illusion, a myth. It leaves the listener in a transcendental place from which they may never come back.

A Whiter Shade of Pale is a journey. It's a bloody beautiful melody with a whole feeling, like completeness, yet still leaves the listener wanting a bit more.

I understand that there's a bit of nostalgia working it's magic on me here. 1967, summer of love, Sgt. Peppers and all that holds a resonance with me. I wish I'd been alive back then to experience it all first hand, alas I wasn't. The second hand experience I have with it all will do me just fine, however. Again, I must stress, great pop music can create its own nostalgia.

In all, this song is, in my view, a great song because it conjures up emotions of melancholy, joy, fear and love purely through its sonic attributes. Any song that can do that to so many people is great!


Procol Harum

Five of the Best - War & Peace

Today marks the release of Tony Blair's memoirs. Yesterday, the US hand-over in Iraq got going. There's a lot on the news about war at the moment and so I've taken some inspiration. Here's Five of the Best songs ever made to do with war and peace...

Eminem - Square Dance: A weird country/hip-hop beat sits behind lyrics such as "to join that army and what you do for that navy/you just a baby/getting recruited at 18/you on that plane now eatin' that food, yeah them baked beans/I'm 28 they gonna take you 'fore they take me". Stunning.


John Lennon - Give Peace a Chance: "Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout revolution, evolution, masturbation, flagellation, regulation, integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations/All we are saying, is give peace a chance". Call it wishy-washy, call it what you want, you can't deny that Lennon is right in highlighting we've never given peace a chance. Imagine, hey...

Elvis Costello - What's so Funny 'bout Peace, Love and Understanding?: The title says it all.


Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA: Probably The Boss' most famous hit (though there is a fair few to choose from), this is also probably his most misunderstood. A complete protest over US foreign policy (or just policy in general) which Reagan missed the point of, but he wasn't and unfortunately isn't alone.

The Jam - Little Boy Soldiers: Weller's most amazing lyric? Possibly. "I'm up by the hills playing little boy soldiers/reconnaissance duty, up at 5:30/shoot, shoot, shoot and kill the natives/you're one of us and we love you for it". Wonderful, character led sarcasm and scathe on the British Army.