SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: NOVEMBER 2012

This Month's Listen Up Manchester Spotify Playlist is another mixed bag including a few new tracks from some old favourites (Dinosaur Jr & Biffy Clyro), plenty of new stuff we've only recently heard and finishing with the earliest know recording (1934) of The House of the Rising Sun - aparently a very old traditional folk song originating in the 18th Century or even earlier.

Enjoy November's playlist here: November 2012

LISTEN UP: ANNIE DRESSNER

Listen Up Manchester and check out the talented Annie Dressner - a singer/songwriter from New York City - she has recently relocated to our shores and has based herself in Cambridge. Her music is both whimsical and melancholic, with a fantastic voice that reminds me a little of Jessica Lea Mayfield - that great combination of beauty and sadness.
After several listens to Annie's album "Strangers Who Knew Each Others Names" its clear she is an accompished artist who is a natural songwriter showing a real range of both upbeat carefree songs and more deeper sadder songs.
Have a listen to "Fly" one of our favourite songs & the opening track to her album below and if you like what you hear then check out more about her and details of where you can get the album from on her website (www.anniedressner.com) & hopefully we'll get to see Annie playing in Manchsester in the near future.

VINYL: THE BEATLES STEREO VINYL BOXSET (& OTHER RELEASES)

Recently Listen Up Manchester went a bit mad and spent £385 on a collection of recent Beatles releases. The main purchase being the £300 Stereo Remaseters Vinyl Boxset (which will be the main focus of this review), but the other releases we will quickly cover first.

Love Me Do 7" 50th Anniversary reissue - this is a replica of the original debut single to mark the 50th Anniversary complete with red label & wavey line sleeve design to recreate the look of the 1st parlophone pressing. A nice collectible to commemorate 50 years.

Magical Mystery Tour Deluxe Edition - this recent release contains both a DVD & Blu-Ray discs of the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour film - the film itself a psychedellic avant garde film following the Beatles on a bus tour filled with odd characters and even odder scenes. It contains some interesting musical interludes including videos for I am the Walrus, Your Mother Should Know & the Title Track amongst others. Not much in the way of plot, but the Beatles during their most "far out" period. The rest of the deluxe edition contains a nice 60 page book featuring previously unseen photos & a replica of the original double 7" Vinyl EP in Mono. Also in the box is a ticket stub for the Magical Mystery tour - all in all a nice "Deluxe Edition" of the newly restored and Remastered DVD & Blu-Ray release of the film.

The Beatles Record Store Day Release - 4 disc 7" single box set - even the Beatles got involved with Record Store Day earlier in the year with this limited editon box of singles - the box containing: Single 1: Ticket to Ride / Yes it is  Single 2: Yellow Submarine / Eleanor Rigby  Single 3: Hey Jude / Revolution & Single 4: Something / Come Together. It also contains a poster of the Beatles from '65 - a nice collectable from Record Store Day!

Right then - all of the above are all very nice (collectable) releases from this year for one of the all time greatest bands in the history of popular music, but the real star release this year is the almighty Beatles Stereo Remasters Vinyl Boxset - released this week (12th November 2012) - it is the long awaited vinyl issue of the 2009 remasters. There is no point reviewing the music as there is the past 50 years of reviews, articles, books etc devoted to the music of the Beatles. The thing to focus on is the sheer quality of this release. Being a huge Beatles fan for many years now I have heard these songs many many times, but (and even compared to the CD issues in 2009) these are by far the best sound quality issues of these albums. The box contains all the 13 studio albums plus the 2 Past Masters albums - providing a "complete works of" collection - all from the 2009 remasters and pressed in the highest quality 180g heavyweight Vinyl. Many people (including myself) agree that a good quality vinyl is far superior than the sound of CD, and to me that is what makes this boxset the finest sounding issues of any Beatles release to date. The engineers at Apple/EMI have done a marvelous job to deliver an Audiophilles wet dream in a box! The box also includes a lovely deluxe 252 hardback book which details the importance if vinyl and the mastering process - something good to read whilst listening to the greatest catalouge of music from one band - The Beatles! If you have a good quality record player and a spare £300 - then do yourself a favour buy this boxset now!

GIG: ALABAMA SHAKES

Review by John Cooper

Alabama Shakes live at the Manchester Academy 1 - 12.11.2012

After this gig selling out quickly, I didnt think I would have chance to see Alabama Shakes this time around, however one man's misfortune of feeling rotten on the day was to my delight as I was offered his ticket. (Sorry Jon - but I'm so glad you were ill!). As a band, I would say Alabama Shakes were a decent soul/blues band who delivered a good lively set, however when you throw in a front woman like Brittany Howard, all of a sudden they are transformed into something else - a fantastic band with a really soulful voice.... and wow what a voice! I wouldnt even be afraid to compare her to the great Janice Joplin. The Academy was absolutely packed & the band came on at 9pm and were done by 10.20pm, but I loved absolutely every minute of it, and from the looks of the people around me - so did the rest of the Manchester crowd. I'm sure next time they come back they will be playing the Apollo or even bigger!

For anyone who doesnt know what they sound like, you should definately check out the below video:

GIG: BON IVER

 



Review by Jon Birch

Bon Iver live at the Manchester MEN Arena - 09.11.2012

Bon Iver initially came to prominence with their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago. The recording process of that first record is well documented but what came from it is a collection of songs that are intimate and haunting and both intricate and beautifully simple at the same time. I was lucky enough to see the band play Manchester Academy 2 in 2009 and I have never been in a room full of people so transfixed by what was taking place on stage. It remains one of my favourite live music experiences.

My initial reaction therefore when I heard that Bon Iver were to embark on an arena tour was one of surprise, followed by an intrigue as to how their music would come across in a larger venue.

Bon Iver arrive on stage in darkness, the gentle string arrangement of Perth (the opening track to the second album, Bon Iver) sounds out and the spotlight shines down for the first time on Justin Vernon. With his messy hair and unkempt beard, he still looks every inch the lost soul who sought solace in the Wisconsin Woodlands.

The full band on stage, including Vernon, total nine members and musically they are fantastic. The songs are ramped up and along with a blazing light show, fill the arena.

It does sometimes feel that with all this going on, the original beauty of some of the songs is lost. During Creature Fear for instance, the music builds to a huge crescendo. When watching at the Academy show, there were four musicians on stage. The finale to the song was played with two guitars, one drum kit and a keyboard. The result had the whole room mesmerised. At the Arena show the same part was played by the full band including 2 drum kits, a saxophone and a trumpet. It didn’t sound bad, just unnecessary. When a song works so well in a simple form why over complicate?

That’s not to say there weren’t high points. Blood Bank, from the EP of the same name was fantastically well done and Beth/Rest, the second album closer was clearly written to be played in venues of this size. It’s maybe telling that the two songs saved for the encore were perhaps the closest Bon Iver have to sing-a-longs in Skinny Love and For Emma. As Justin Vernon said, ‘we want to leave you as happy as we can’.

To the question of whether Bon Iver’s music can translate to a larger venue? I think that it can. Does it need to, and does it add anything to the music? Not for me.

NEWS: COURTEENERS NEW ALBUM & SINGLE ANNOUNCED

Good news for Courteeners fans - the band have announced a new single "Lose Control" due for release on the 28th January 2013 with an album "Anna" to follow a week later on the 4th February.  As for the bands new image....... you're not nineteen forever lads!!!

GIG: JACK WHITE

Review by Jon Birch

Jack White live at the Blackpool Empress Ballroom - 06.11.2012

Stepping into the Empress Ballroom at Blackpool immediately transports you back in time to a more glamorous age. Majestic chandeliers hang from the high arched ceiling and you get a real feel of how this Dance Hall felt in its heyday. Today however, is about Jack White, and there can be few more fitting settings for an artist who so consistently fuses old school Blues whilst continually evolving his technique and sound.

As the crew set up the stage (all dressed in suits, bow ties and bowler hats!), one of them approached the mic. He reminded the crowd that they were there to witness, ‘a live show, not a YouTube clip’, and to watch the action live rather than through their phones. A personal bug-bear of mine, I wasn’t alone in cheering and applauding this statement loudly.

The lights dimmed and the band took the stage (all females tonight, they alternate with an all male band each night). White himself entered to the strains of his latest single ‘Shakin’, picked up his personalised Telecaster, and blasted into ‘Dead Leaves and The Dirty Ground’, an old school White Stripes favourite.

The set was a solid mix of tracks from Whites solo album Blunderbuss, tracks from The Raconteurs and Dead Weather side projects, and of course, the extensive White Stripes catalogue. Hearing these songs played with a full band gave them a deeper, sometimes subtler feel than the original Detroit Garage Blues versions. It’s interesting to note that in a band of six players, there is only one guitar on stage and its White unmistakable sound that drives the show.

A six-song encore is finished with a triumphant medley starting and finishing with the iconic Seven Nation Army and dipping into Catch Hell Blues and the Son House cover/tribute, Death Letter. Whites sound still seems to be evolving and changing with each record he makes and band he starts. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST: OCTOBER 2012

Posted a few days late, but welcome to the first of Listen Up Manchester's Spotify Playlists - each month we will be creating and posting a Spotify playlist of 10 songs we think you should hear. It will be a good mix of new stuff, songs we have just discovered, different altenate versions of classics, and hopefully at least one new Manchester artist to Listen Up for!

Enjoy the Listen Up Manchester October playlist here: October 2012