2022 - the year of the dan: chapter 25

Chapter 25

The last time I saw Richard Hawley was in The Opera House. Him and band. All seated. Now I love Richard Hawley but I said then I’ll never go and see him there again. Somehow the seated audience did not fit with his noisier oeuvre – Standing at the sky’s edge et al. The quieter material and ballads worked a dream there. That’s why I didn’t buy a ticket to see Richard Hawley this time. But again the universe dictated that I would attend…you know the way…friend of a friend…

(Incidentally the best venue I’ve seen him in was The Savoy. All standing. All his material worked great there including all 10 minutes of the majestic Remorse code.)

Turned out it wasn’t him and band at all. Just him and Shez Sheridan. I said I would have bought a ticket if I could be guaranteed a set of ballads. That’s what I got, just not with the band arrangements.

What are we left with? His velvety croon which is a fantastic instrument in itself. And some wonderful songs. Including what felt like a special treat for me. The sublime For your lover give some time from Truelove’s gutter, my favourite Hawley album. Even then I found myself humming the absent cello line. The forlorn inner voice of the song.

And the nagging reminder. Richard. Bring the full band. Bring the string section. Play just the ballads. You know you want to.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Best of 2014 - Part 4: Jazz/Chamber/Orchestral/Wonky/Ambient/Minimalist

And so the final part of this journey back through 2014. I've titled this bunch in favour of the Orchestral/Jazz end of the pop spectrum but there are certainly a few refugees from Dream Pop, Folk, maybe even Soul (and one showtune). Who's counting though. There are also a good number of Electronic pieces in here as promised, but more of minimalist, downtempo and/or industrial leanings. Mood wise, I think this set hangs together pretty well. Whatever, there's a lot of great music in here for sure. Just as a reminder, here are the other three parts of my 2014 Review. http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2014/12/best-of-2014-part-1-folkrootscountry.html http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2014/12/best-of-2014-part-2-soulpopjangleelectr.html http://www.theundergroundofhappiness.blogspot.ie/2015/01/best-of-2014-part-3-psychkrautrockpunkb.html 1. Polar Bear – Two storms (Leaf) A wonderfully spacious late night saxophone ele
Read more

Best of 2014 - Part 3: Psych/Krautrock/Punk/Blues/Glam/Tropical

Another hodge podge of generally loud fast music often featuring loud guitars and sometimes even loud keyboards. There are also some hushed varieties (to make up for the lack of volume those have a spooky air) and at least a few with no guitars at all. That's the beauty of pop music and 2014 was another vintage year. 1. Ezra Furman – My zero (Bar None) Let’s start with an album not technically released last year (towards the end of 2013), but it sank home with me in the early weeks of last January. The day of the dog is a bracing blast of beat rock n roll from an age before The Beatles, never mind the internet...committed, passionate and filled with buzzing guitar hooks and, inspiringly, saxophones. This song was my anthem from it. It’s a class tune all over. Shades of The Modern Lovers and even Violent Femmes here and there but Furman's voice in particular is all his own - brilliantly strained, reaching. There's not enough of that in pop music. The who
Read more

Matthew Bourne - Montauk Variations (The Leaf Label)

Image
I'm no jazz afficionado. I probably know as much about jazz as the average pop music fan. Which is why I'd previously only been aware of the pianist Matthew Bourne at arm's length, through references in regular mailings from the Leaf record label. Now, Leaf are releasing what is apparently his first ever solo studio album, and his first outing with the label. From what I read about Bourne, it sounds like he doesn't wear the jazz tag easily; he's been a serial collaborator over the last decade - piano trios, free jazz/noise groups and even a project seeking out broken pianos, Songs from a lost piano (which sounds intriguing and I must check it out this minute). I've no intention of attempting anything like a review of this album. I'm not qualified and I hate it when people wander into territory where they're clearly out of their depth. However, there is an obvious "way in" for me here - a version of the Charlie Chaplin tune Smile , which ori
Read more