First Aid Kit - The Lions Roar

First Aid Kit, aka duo Johanna and Klara Söderberg, first got chins wagging when they posted a cover of Fleet Foxes' ballad Tiger Mountain Peasant Song on Youtube. A couple of million hits and an album later, they return with their second long-player, which is their first full-band effort and was recorded in Omaha with producer Mike Mogis, while their dad played bass.

Following on from their debut, and also retaining their love for Fleet Foxes, the Swedish sisters deliver beautiful, swooning and sweeping folk which sounds far more American than it does Swedish. The album's foreboding title track opens things up with a sense of honesty that flows throughout. “I'm a god damn coward/But, then again, so are you,” the siblings sing with conviction before the mood is lightened by the beautiful country of obvious single, Emmylou. “I'll be your Emmylou and I'll be your June, if you'll be my Gram and my Johnny too,” they chirp, in a song that gives a clear nod to the band's influences. The harmonious breakdown of the catchy-yet-gloomy To a Poet illustrates the pair's strong vocals. They sing with a crystal clarity that suits the sound of a record which manages to create a warm, textured atmosphere while remaining clean-sounding and unfussy.

The record ends with joyously ramshackle hoe-down King of the Road. A hand-clappy, upbeat Mariachi romp, it features The Felice Brothers and Conor Oberst – a sign that First Aid Kit are making friends in all the right places. If they keep on putting out such charming and emotionally engaging music, they will surely continue to make a whole lot more friends and fans.

Review by Bobby Townsend. It first appeared in Sydney's Drum Media.

Simone Felice at The Vanguard, Sydney

Simone Felice's bio is quite the read. Here are some snippets. At the age of 12 he suffered a brain aneurysm and was pronounced clinically dead for several minutes. Recovering from emergency brain surgery in a local hospital, he spent several months in intensive care, relearning basic motor skills, including reading and writing... In the winter of 2009 personal tragedy reared its head when Simone and his long-time love lost their first child in a still-birth... On 2 June 2010, after a series of fainting spells, Simone underwent emergency open-heart surgery at Albany Medical Center when doctors discovered that a childhood congenital disorder had left the 33-year-old with an irreversible calcification of the aortic valve, leaving only 8% blood-flow to the body and brain... The following month Pearl Simone Felice was born, a healthy blue-eyed girl who came in a summer thunderstorm.

Add to that the fact that Simone is a musician famed for The Duke and The King and The Felice Brothers, and that he is an acclaimed author, and you certainly have a life lived. The last time he was supposed to be in Australia, he was in an operating theatre having his heart fixed. This performance at Sydney's Vanguard was actually third time lucky, as he was forced to cancel another trip as well. So it was a joy to see the man finally step upon a stage in this fair city.

My perennial grumble about the irritating clattering of plates that soundtracks any Vanguard gig aside (I'm not sure dinner and intimate live music belong in the same room), this was a magical night, as the singer performed with just an acoustic guitar for company, and ran through some solo stuff, some Duke and the King stuff and even the odd cover. His voice was beautiful, ethereal, transfixing. Between songs, he was funny and gracious and when he bowed at the end of the gig he did so with the awkward charm of a five-year-old having performed in the school nativity play. He was a genuinely humble character who managed to create the most intimate of atmospheres, even amid the chinking of crockery.

Anyway, why read my words about how good he was when you can see for yourself? Check out a clip of Felice performing Don't Wake The Scarecrow at The Vanguard below:

 

Review by Bobby Townsend.

The Felice Brothers - Celebration, Florida

The Felice Brothers - a close-knit band of two brothers and three long-term friends - recorded most of the songs that made up their first three albums in a converted chicken coup in upstate New York. Their sound has always been distinctly earthy American country-folk, so it comes as something of a surprise that their new long-player is quite as expansive as it is.

Alongside the more familiar sounds of piano and guitar, Celebration, Florida bursts with horns, ambient synths, big drum beats, bigger bass lines, piano, violin and accordion. Not only that, but you’ll even find rave beats and acid jazz here. That’s right, acid jazz.

Indeed, you know this album is going to be an experimental outing when a cacophony of raucous schoolyard chanting infiltrates the chorus of opener Fire At The Pageant. While the urge to push the envelope and develop their sound is commendable, the strongest moments on the record still come when The Felice Brothers are at their most delicate, when Ian Felice’s fragile voice sounds as though it could crack at any time. Through the sorrowful reminiscence of Oliver Stone, for instance, Felice’s vocal is so beautiful over soft ivory tinkling that all other sounds - the horns and the added ambience - even though they are pared back, still seem somehow intrusive.

However, for all the bells and whistles of Celebration, Florida, The Felice Brothers’ sound remains atmospheric and the sense of genuine Americana is strong. Crucially, their fine storytelling is still present and, whether they are embellishing their songs with added dimensions or not, no-one tells a good old fashioned yarn like The Felice Brothers.

Review by Rob Townsend. 
Read Rob's review of The Felice Brothers, here.

Danny and the Champions of the World - Streets of our Time

Streets of Our Time is the second release from Aussie-born Londoner Danny Wilson and his ever-changing gang of Champions, and the ninth album in total for the former Grand Drive singer.

Surely influenced by the likes of Dylan, Springsteen and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Wilson’s classically told tales of a folk troubadour are summed up pretty well by the opening two songs. Opener Henry the Van fondly tells of a tour bus on its last legs and is followed by the nostalgia of the soul-tinged Restless Feet. Wilson’s vocal falls somewhere between a young Dylan, Ian Felice and Neil Young as the album travels through the pedal steel of Wandle Swan, the gentle harmonica and banjo of Streets of Time and the gospel choir of Yr People Here (Shine a Light).

The fact that The Champions are less of a band and more of an ever-rotating group of mates that, according to Wilson “never rehearse”, gives Streets of Our Time a real sense of freedom and joy. That’s not to say it’s a sloppy record in its musicianship, far from it, rather there is just a footloose vibe here that comes from a bunch of pals doing what they love.

Okay, so maybe at times it’s a little bit cheesy in its dewy-eyed nostalgia, but it does have a nice heart and soul to it. Hardly groundbreaking, but with a certain timeless charm, Streets of our Time is a love-letter to Americana, to Wilson’s influences and, in the best folk tradition, to times gone by.

2008 end of year review

I’ve always loved a good list. Here is my best and worst of 2008 (please feel free to leave your own lists in the comments section):TOP 10 ALBUMS
1. The Felice Brothers THE FELICE BROTHERS (above)
2. Fantasy Black Channel LATE OF THE PIER
3. Alas, I Cannot Swim LAURA MARLING
4. Dog House Music SEASICK STEVE
5. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS
6. Twenty One MYSTERY JETS
7. Alphabutt KIMYA DAWSON
8. Sixes & Sevens ADAM GREEN
9. Only By The Night KINGS OF LEON
10. Sunday At Devil Dirt ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN

TOP 5 SINGLES
1. I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You BLACK KIDS
2. Sex On Fire KINGS OF LEON
3. Paris Is Burning LADYHAWKE
4. Young Love MYSTERY JETS
5. American Boy ESTELLE

TOP 5 ARTISTS
1. Kimya Dawson
2. Angus & Julia Stone (read my bio of them here)
3. Ladyhawke (above)
4. Laura Marling
5. Late Of The Pier

TOP 10 GIGS
1. Kimya Dawson, Manning Bar
2. Arcade Fire, Big Day Out
3. Angus & Julia Stone, Enmore Theatre
4. Adam Green, Oxford Art Factory
5. Bridezilla, Annandale Hotel
6. SoKo, Oxford Art Factory
7. Rage Against The Machine, Big Day Out (below)
8. Cassette Kids, Oxford Art Factory
9. Cat Power, Enmore Theatre
10. Kate Nash, Oxford Art Factory
TOP 3 RADIO SHOWS
1. Mark Kermode’s Film Reviews, BBC Radio Five Live
2. Ricky Gervais podcast
3. BBC Radio Five Live football podcast

TOP 5 ONLINE DESTINATIONS
1. Youtube
2. Surf The Channel
3. Owl and the Grapes
4. Facebook
5. Myspace

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES AWARD (MOST OVER-HYPED)
Australian TV show Underbelly about Melbourne gangsters. It was based on truth but played out like a high-school production of The Sopranos. Everyone went mad for it though. “OMG, have you seen Underbelly?” they would enthuse. “Yes,” I would respond. “But I wish I hadn’t because it’s shit.”

HIGHLIGHT(S) OF THE YEAR
Well, the sky-blue leather jacket (above) I picked up in Vinnies for $10 was a pretty seminal moment in my year but, in terms of worldwide ramifications, I suppose it comes a close second to Obama’s victory.

QUOTES OF THE YEAR
“Sorry.”
"I try really hard actually." Michael Cera speaks for all indie boys when Juno tells him he's cool without even having to try.

TOP FILMS
1. Juno
2. Young At Heart
3. No Country For Old Men
4. The Dark Knight

WHAT’S THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING SOMEONE WILL BLAME ON THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN DURING 2009?
The titanic flop that will be Jet’s third album.

PREDICTIONS FOR 2009
The Smiths to reform.

2008 IN REVIEW
It’s been an interesting year over here in Sydney. The world went into financial meltdown, Sydney brimmed with nuns for World Youth Day, everyone (deservedly) went crazy for a little film about a pregnant teenager, the NSW Government imploded and America surprisingly got it right with its Presidential election.
Musically, a look at my top ten suggests many of the big-hitters failed to perform this year, but, more positively, lots of up-and-coming Sydney acts – including Ghostwood, Mercy Arms and Angus & Julia Stone – have represented Australia well overseas. A big disappointment was the cancellation of The Great Escape Festival. This is a wonderful event, so if it returns next year, buy your tickets early to avoid the same thing happening.

Interviewing my old mate Kimya (above) was a lovely moment for me, as was interviewing another couple of heroes of mine, Adam Green and Albert Hammond, Jr. Seeing Kimya play twice in one day was great, and watching two of my dearest friends fill the Enmore two nights running made me brim with pride.

Anyway, Happy New Year. I hope the credit crunch doesn’t hit you too harshly in 2009. I doubt it will affect me, as I never had any money in the first place.

The Felice Brothers - The Felice Brothers

The Felice Brothers are three American siblings [and one mate] that live the hobo lifestyle in a beaten up old van, slugging whisky and singing old-fashioned yarns of jailhouses, alcohol, drugs, woozy romance and family ties. Their UK debut album, 2007’s Tonight At The Arizona, snuck onto the shelves almost unnoticed, yet those who chanced upon it couldn’t have failed to be bowled over by its cracked beauty. Now, with their follow-up, they have crafted an even more incredible record.

The most immediately striking aspect of The Felice Brothers’ gritty Americana is vocalist Ian Felice, who sounds unerringly reminiscent of Bob Dylan. However, his delivery during gentle folk opener Little Anne proves that this is no cheap imitation; his voice is genuine, real and breathtaking.

Following this, the tempo is raised with the ivory-tinkling, horn-blowing The Greatest Show On Earth and the barnstorming, accordion-led Frankie’s Gun. Later, St Stephen’s End offers understated guitar before Ian Felice opens the barroom romp, Love Me Tenderly, with endearing, Tom Waits-style rambling.

With 15 tracks taking over an hour to play out, The Felice Brothers feels like a good, old fashioned album which you would be well advised to hurry out and buy right now and, while you’re at it, hunt down a copy of their previous record too. When it comes to honest, raw American folk, The Felice Brothers are the best band around right now. Trust me, while that may seem like high praise, there is jawdropping beauty here that is all too rare nowadays.

Review by Rob Townsend. 
Read Rob's review of Celebration, Florida, here.