Playing catch-up with The Streetlamp - No. 2

Regular readers of this blog will not be surprised to learn that I will be involved in strike action at work next Wednesday, along with several million other UK public sector workers. You will also not be surprised to learn further that I am, right now, up to my ears in producing leaflets, painting banners and making placards in preparation for our showdown with the government. As a result, I have had to cancel a good few blogs which I've not had time to sit down and write. To make up for this, I'm making tonight's blog one of my 'Playing catch-up with The Streetlamp' pieces in a vain attempt to shoe-horn several bands, songs and pieces of information into one manageable, easily-digested form. Apologies to the artists involved for not giving you my usual fulsome coverage, but I'm sure you understand that the political struggle must always come first.



So, first up is a piece of news that I promised you back in October at the release of Stanley Odd's 'The Day I Went Deaf' EP (see 'here'). In that piece I hinted that a major show was in the offing for Stanley Odd in January but could not yet be confirmed. I can now confirm that they are playing in the O2 ABC in Glasgow on January 29th with the Peatbog Faeries as part of the Celtic Connections festival. If you're surprised at that bill and the union of what seems rather a strange mix of styles, then you're not alone. When I asked Stanley Odd frontman Solareye about it, he told me:

"Yup , we're playing O2 ABC with Peatbog Faeries. I agree it's quite an unorthodox lineup but we're really looking forward to it.

We actually played Solas Festival last year just before the Peatbog Faeries and it was a brilliant gig, so hopefully peeps will be kind to us as ABC."

I, for one, am certainly looking forward to it and I'm thankful to the eclectic nature of Celtic Connections that it can throw this sort of night up. See you there!



And staying with Scottish hip-hop for a bit, the next item I want to bring to your attention is the release of '.​.​.​Escape The Network' by Vizual Pupil & Th!nK. You will, hopefully, remember me writing previously about the smart and righteous taster track 'Madness' (see 'here'). Well, now the complete 7-track album is available as a free download on their bandcamp page, and is well worth checking out. Have a listen to the excellent 'Blade Running':

Blade Running by uncon




At the beginning of November, Gordon gave us a frank and honest article about his own, long-time struggle with depression (see 'here'), which like many sufferers he characterises as 'the black dog'. Coincidentally, at about the same time, Kevin P. Gilday , the knowing and witty, Glaswegian poet and musician (previously on The Streetlamp 'here'), released a fine, spoken-word track called 'Black Dog Days' . As usual, this is available as a free download from his soundcloud site. Have a listen:

Black Dog Days by Kevin P. Gilday






And speaking of poetic, introspective, spoken-word songs, there is a new album available from New Orleans Swim Team; the solo project of Alberta based, self-taught, multi-instrumentalist Jacob Ulickij ('here' previously on The Streetlamp). This latest work is called 'To be Something, to be Anything' and is available as a free download from the bandcamp page. Here's a track to get you in the mood:







Last, but not least, I'm delighted to say that the fine, young, Edinburgh-based indie-pop band The Spook School (see 'here' previously on The Streetlamp) have, at last, released some new material. A two-track, home-demo single 'Are You Who You Think You Are?' is now available as a free download from their bandcamp page. I think it's really rather good and find myself drawn to the rough-hewn nature of the songs in their demo form. Have a listen:





Well, I'm afraid that'll have to do for the time being, some of us have a class war to win, you know. Apologies to the artists involved in this roundup for my enforced brevity. I'll make it up to you in the future.


Griff
xx

Griff says; New Orleans Swim Team - Not waving but drowning

I hope the artist doesn't mind being described this way, but I've got a rather 'odd' little musical treat for you tonight. The artist is completely new to me and goes by the name of New Orleans Swim Team. Don't assume by that name that we're talking about a large ensemble here, however. No, these are the intimate solo recordings of Alberta based, self-taught, multi-instrumentalist Jacob Ulickij (pictured) and he's burst into my consciousness this week with what appears to be a debut album; Sitting On Fences. Like much of the best indie-folk brought to you by The Streetlamp, this music is self-recorded at home and has the urgent, soul-baring insistency and labour-of-love imperfection of all great outsider art. Given my appreciation of honesty in art I find myself drawn to its compelling, almost guileless, sincerity. Jacob plays all of the music on the album and, rather than singing his dense, elaborate, poetic lyrics, he speaks them in a vulnerable, often whispered, undertone that just adds to the intimacy of the messages therein. Listening to the songs is rather like plugging in directly to the philosophical stream-of-consciousness of a sensitive young man trying to make sense of a confused and confusing world.



The music itself is largely indie-folk with a dash of primitive chamber pop and some art-rock experimentalism thrown in for good measure. The only artist that it really reminds me of at all is illustrious and enduring experimental artist and musician, Laurie Anderson. See what you think yourself, I've embedded (below) a couple of songs from the album. There are nine songs in total and all of them can be downloaded for free on the New Orleans Swim Team bandcamp and soundcloud pages. I suggest you do visit the bandcamp page though, as all of the lyrics are printed there and, if you're at all like me, you will want to read them just as elemental prose poetry.









Griff
xx