Trembling Bells with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy: live and sort of disappointing

Writing this was a real chore. Having been won over by Bonnie 'Prince' Billy's Celtic Connections appearance earlier in the year, I was desperate to see him perform again when I discovered that he had already announced a UK tour with Trembling Bells. I'm a fan of the band and would even go so far as to describe their last record 'The Constant Pageant' as a 'keeper'. The news seemed too good to be true. I vowed to review their Edinburgh date and fired off a series of calls and emails to the venue, trying to clear a guestlist place with their unresponsive marketing man. This was such a tedious and disheartening process that by the time my request was granted, my buzz had been pretty much killed. It didn't help that the concert generally fell short of my lofty expectations. I barely felt moved to write anything about the night, yet produced 300 words as a point of honour! I have a terrific work ethic.

The original review can be found here.

Trembling Bells with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

The Queen's Hall, Edinburgh

25/4/12

***1/2

Will Oldham’s involvement in this show has been publicised with a degree of caution. A collaboration between him and Glaswegian psych-folk torch bearers Trembling Bells, he performs only a couple of tracks from his sprawling back catalogue and reins in his usual onstage theatrics in favour of a more subservient role. Drummer Alex Nielson is the main creative force at work tonight and if some Bonnie 'Prince' Billy fans are initially disappointed, it soon becomes clear to them that the young man's sensibilities are entirely analogous with those of their hero.

Working their way through the majority of this year’s ‘Duchess’ EP and the newly released ‘The Marble Downs’, the collective’s set hinges on the arresting interplay between vocalists Oldham and Lavinia Blackwell. ‘I Can Tell You’re Leaving’ is a jaunty duet undercut by the poignant harmonies of its chorus, while ‘Ain’t Nothing Wrong With a Little Longing’ demonstrates their range as they tackle an awkward folk-flavoured melody. Solo showcases are provided by ‘I Made a Date (With an Open Vein)’ and the traditional ‘My Husband’s Got No Courage in Him’, Oldham sounding timorous yet defiant while Blackwell is strident and otherworldly. Though unconventional, both performers are deeply expressive and prove as much by doing justice to ‘Duchess‘, one of the great Scott Walker‘s most beautiful compositions.

The band is tight and inventive, though at times struggle to recreate the symphonic grandeur of their recordings. In these moments when their playing is neither bombastic nor sparse enough to complement the singers and they abandon their archaic pomp for a fey jangle, we are reminded that the partnership is still a work in progress. Oldham has a reputation for his restless artistic spirit and myriad collaborations, but it would be shame for all concerned not to take this project further.

Lewis Porteous

Role Models: in which a student journalist pans a broad comedy and impresses everyone

I just found this on an old USB drive. I stuck some files on it when my computer became infected a couple of years ago, before I had the hard disc wiped. I should have probably preserved the A-grade dissertation that I'd spent months working on instead, but back then I was young and had time on my side. I mean, how was I to know I'd wind up like this? Having said that, kudos to 22 year old me for holding onto MP3 files of Richard & Linda Thompson's 'First Light' LP, still out of print to this day.

I rush-wrote the piece because I was film editor for the University paper and some jerk who was supposed to submit copy to me for an urgent deadline wasn't answering my calls. I attended every press screening I could back then, often for movies I had no intention of reviewing or even enjoying, so had plenty of 'material' to draw from. History will ultimately prove kinder to Paris Hilton's The Hottie & the Nottie, but Role Models was enjoying quite a big marketing push at the time.

Remember, this piece is from 2009. Keane had just put out their third album and an overpowering sense of optimism was sweeping across campus. Some of the views expressed may seem a little trite and naive to modern audiences, but the noughties dream was still burning in our hearts back then and my review is nothing if not sincere.

Role Models
Dir. David Wain
Universal, 2008 

Role Models opens with a comic set piece in which Stifler from American Pie forces Paul Rudd to smell his index and middle fingers, alluding to having recently inserted them into the subservient babe whose sports car he has just fled. With expert timing and feline agility, Rudd recoils, the word 'dude!' echoing throughout the multiplex. His intonation is wonderful and the scene is played out to utter perfection. From Stifler's bold, nihilistic gesture to the measured ambiguity of Rudd's response, audiences are swept up in a vital and inventive celebration of cinematic possibility and transported to modern day Los Angeles or wherever these sleazebags live.

The film revolves around the characters Danny (Rudd) and Wheeler (Stifler). When Danny's long term girlfriend breaks up with him for being too cynical, he develops grave emotional problems and commits a serious parking offence with his best friend in tow. The pair seek legal counsel from Danny's ex and are sentenced to community service with a 'Big Brother' agency. Forced to support wayward minors, Wheeler and Danny must learn to curb their selfish tendencies so that they may avoid jail and win back that the latter's love interest, who they will presumably then share.

With a plot so formulaic that it would cause even Adam Sandler to wretch in disgust, David Wain's latest offering is predictably crass, unimaginative and disposable. However amusing much of his output is, it remains a sad state of affairs that Judd Apatow is considered one of the decade's most credible comedic forces and that the likes of Wain are willing to ape his 'bromedies' quite so brazenly. Here even the inclusion of Superbad's Christopher Mintz-Plasse in a one-dimensional supporting role is treated as a great casting coup.

The frustrating thing about Role Models is the inconsistency with which it appals. There are flashes of well written material on display, the film even boasting a potentially classic character in Christopher Guest regular Jane Lynch's depiction of the strung-out Big Brother manager. Rudd and Wain are clearly capable of producing clever and inventive material, they're just too content to rely on a tried and tested framework of tiresome scatological humour, already outdated pop culture references and schmaltzy resolutions.

Lightships: Scottish supergroup debuts at the CCA

 

This was brilliant. I’d never been to a gig at the CCA before and it was one of the most claustrophobic venues I’ve ever visited, but it was a great place to be once Lightships took to the stage. I’ve seen Teenage Fanclub five times over the years and have found that audiences tend to talk over their more atmospheric material, so I appreciated the chance to watch Gerry Love perform before a respectful public. The show was so good that it cured me of a particularly unpleasant cold. To give you an idea of how bad my cold was, it had kept me off work for the day while rendering me too weary to compile an intimidating and comprehensive list of 'do's and don'ts' aimed at anyone due to hang out with me for the first time.

Note when reading the review that I don't have much to say about the event itself, it was just really, really good. Instead, I focus my attention on Love's apparent meekness and the new album. This makes me sort of a reviewing jerk, but I think it reads pretty well and puts all the necessary information across.

Lightships

CCA, Glasgow

4/5/12

****

Gerard Love is among the most reticent men in pop, to the extent that his appearances as one third of Teenage Fanclub's song-writing core frequently call to mind a self-help group for musicians with low self-esteem. If the project's press release is to be believed, he had to be cajoled into writing and recording Lightships' debut by an infatuated record label and various industry well-wishers. Tonight we find him queueing to gain admission to his own gig.

Electric Cables, a Love solo album in all but name, is the first full-length release devoted exclusively to the Fanny's own material. Not only does it sustain the high levels of quality for which his past work is renowned, but it proves him to be an astonishingly gifted all-rounder. His songwriting is more personal and distinctive than ever, while his dense arrangements are complimented by the lightness and ephemeral qualities of his production work. If ever there was an album to get lost in, this is it.

Backed by a Scottish supergroup comprising assorted Fanclub, Pastels and Belle & Sebastian members, Love treats the project's maiden live date as an opportunity to air his opus in its entirety. Adhering to its running order and tacking on only a pair of covers at the end (Moondog's 'Do Your Thing' and Neil Young's 'Lotta Love'), there are little in the way of surprises tonight. Instead, the warmth and immediacy of the performance ensures that the sell-out crowd remain in thrall to the singer as he grows increasingly comfortable with his role as frontman. An auspicious introduction by all accounts, we just hope that the applause doesn't go to his head.

Lewis Porteous