Griff says; Turn off your television and walk this way

There's something about Swedish bands that seems to appeal to me. I've been having a think about it and I've decided that it's because Sweden is at a similar latitude to Scotland. Now you may be wondering why that matters, so I'll elaborate. In the Summer in these Northern latitudes we have long, bright nights where darkness hardly falls. These are the days where we play on the beaches, swim in the lochs, hike in the mountains and drink cold beers in the park with our friends. Sometimes, when the weather is good, it feels like the summer will never end and we spend weeks falling in and out of love to a soundtrack of bright and energetic pop. In my opinion, that's the milieu that produces twee-pop and it explains why Sweden and Scotland are the world centres of that genre. However, there's also a downside. In the winter, we hardly see the sun and the midwinter can bring several weeks of night. Artists exposed to that sort of climate will always have a touch of melancholy about them; a brooding and reflective shadow that stalks the sunshine of their music.
Now you may think all of the above is rot but I honestly believe that there is something of the truth in it and it explains why I feel such an affinity with bands like Mellow Dramatic Avenue and tonight's offering, the Swedish trio Turn off your television. Hailing from Malmö, the band line-up is;

Vocals, guitar and other stuff: Jon Rinneby
Bass: Stellan Lofberg
Drums and vocals: Erik Willman

They released their eponymous debut album in October of last year to glowing reviews, most of which compare them favourably to American indie-rock band Sparklehorse. The comparisons are fairly obvious as Turn off your television do proffer a similar mellow, country-tinged, post-rock fare. The other band that they are reminiscent of, to these ears, is Grandaddy. I think those comparisons will give you a fair idea of the Turn off your television sound. However, if you need further convincing, I've embedded their latest single, Long Walk, below:

Pretty good, right? The single is available as a free digital download from their bandcamp page, as are their previous singles and the aforementioned album. So, what are you waiting for? Why not take a walk over and see for yourself?

Griff
xx

~Kitten Wine~#34: Awakenings prt2: Tonight Were Gonna Party Like It's 1999

In the second of my Blogs about the late 1990s, we look at the events of 1999, possibly the most transitional period of my life, and how it was soundtracked by an oddly beautiful album called 'Overcome By Happiness' by the Pernice Brothers.....

So 1998 evaporated into 1999, and I was still pounding the streets after my re-awakening from the wilderness of self-inflicted isolation. 1998 had played out in what is now, rather shamefully, known as 'the Summer of Single Mothers' (and yes, it probably means exactly what you think it means!), but I still could not have seen the juggernaut that was 1999 coming hurtling towards me.
1999 began with an incident with a mad girl named Alison, and was followed almost immediately by a strange relationship with a married woman (who was actually 7 years younger than me, and had married young) called Melanie. Melanie's (moribund) marriage meant that there were no strings attached in any way, so when one night, exactly 13 years ago this week, I was introduced to someone new, there were no hard or awkward feelings between me and Melanie.
It was Ray who did the introductions....some girl he used to work beside came over and started talking to him as we frequented the weekly Bannockburn meat-market-parading-as-a-disco, and he pointed out that she was the daughter of one of our old High School teachers. This was like a red rag to a bull with me, and I immediately followed her and began talking to her, something I would never have done in the preceding four years. Almost as soon as we began talking, the world seemed to shift on its axis....from that very opening sentence my whole life changed and went in a direction I could never have foretold, nor have ever expected. The girl's name was Elizabeth, but everyone called her Libby, and we've been together from that very first introduction, getting married two years ago.

"I feel better now you're gone// A minute in the sunlight// Can take away a whole life// Still, there's something about you"....the opening lines from 'Clear Spot', a track from the then latest album by the Pernice Brothers, 'Overcome By Happiness', which I had just bought that afternoon, and had played several times before going out that night. The Pernice Brothers had began life as the Scud Mountain Boys, purveyors of aching, poignant alt-Country, but had now decided to play at being a Pop/Rock band....the transition was seamless!
And that opening line hit the (clear) spot perfectly; I feel better now WHO is gone? The depression? The self-enforced exile? The other girls who walked all over me and left their stilettos in my heart? A minute in the sunlight can make you see clearly that all you previously thought you knew was wrong, and it can eradicate a useless existence. There's something about you....and there was....
(the video below says 'Overcome By Happiness', but I assure you this is 'Clear Spot')

'Overcome By Happiness' is a peculiar album, as it features upbeat songs about suicide, heartbreak and desolation, and slow aching songs about true love and contentment. Take for example the song 'Chicken Wire', it's all about a girl who gasses herself in her garage. That's all it is about! We never really find out much about the girl, but we know that the garage is full of chicken wire, along with Winter tyres and an old lawn mower....but it's one of the most beautiful songs you will ever hear....

The whole album is bathed in a particular beautiful light that you only see at certain times in your life. That magical, late Summer light when it's still warm enough to sit outside after 10:00pm, sharing a beer or a bottle of wine with friends, and you feel the first thoughts of Autumn encroaching upon that last ray of sun against the bruised sky. The same light you only see when you're in love.
Take, for example, the track 'All I Know' with it's Beach Boys Smile-era string arrangements and honeyed tenor vocals, it's a song that fully encapsulates that golden late Summer sunshine tinged with the melancholy of that first Autumn day....and that's before we even look at the lyrics; "All your friends may go// And your luck may go// but you'll never feel as bad as when SHE goes// It's all I know". Add to that the verse "All the time you were happy// It makes the end so hard to take// How a voice can fill the room like singing// The crooked moon upon her face"....so why did a beautiful song about the end of a relationship resonate so deeply at the time? Because, as with 'Clear Spot', it was my old life I was bidding farewell to. Don't ask me how, but I knew from the very start that this was the girl I would spend either a long time, or the rest of my life with. And it was time to put away the childish things, to bid adieu to tiresome nights in the pub, to hang up my wild years, to stop feeling like a ship without a rudder, flailing about in stormy and damaging seas of my own making, and to finally get my life into some kind of cohesive order....


Finally, after a decade of unhappiness and blank existing, I could bury the previous 10 years and start again. It was like being back at the tail end of 1989. With Libby the days and nights, especially in that first year or so, would be filled with concerts, going to the movies, restaurants, days out, nights in, and a sense of well-being that I had long believed would elude me forever.
In the gorgeous 'Crestfallen', there lies the exact summation of everything I felt at that time; "Oh I Need somebody who won't see through me// Was happy living a lie// Thought I was fine// Then it breaks without a sign// It's hard to read a simple mind// Leaves me looking back for a thing I'll never find// It's a long way to fall// When you find out how it never was// It's a long way to fall// When you find out that it never happened at all".....

And so, here we are, 13 years on, and Libby and I aren't just still together, but we are now married. Two years ago we got hitched in what became something of a ~Streetlamp~ wedding as both Griff and Ray were my Best Men. It was a spectacular day, almost certainly the happiest day of my life, and something I would have never thought possible back in that grim period of 1994-98. My only regret on the day was that I didn't get more say in the music that was chosen for the occasion. Maybe, I should have chosen a Pernice Brothers track, but maybe the time wasn't right for evening sun-dappled tales of existential anguish, suicide and melancholy.
All I know is, that from the moment I met Libby, all that waiting for something special to happen....stopped!

~Gordon~

Dedicated to Libby....I Love You xxx 

The Streetlamp Blog - Two years old and still going strong

The Streetlamp Team enjoyed a day out in Glasgow today; visiting some of the exhibitions and events which are part of the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. As is our custom, we enjoyed a break from the galleries/exhibition spaces and grabbed a bite to eat in Glasgow's best music venue/vegetarian and vegan cafe The 13th Note. As we dined, under the watchful gaze of the Note's Alex Harvey portrait, the sound of The Smith's Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want drifted from the jukebox and Gordon, pointing out the Twin Peaks quote above said machine, remarked;
 "You know, this pub could have been designed just for me. It's my dream pub." 

The above scenario should hopefully paint a picture of almost perfect contentment and, without wanting to be hubristic, I hope you'll agree that The Streetlamp team deserve their moment of fulfillment, as today is the second anniversary of our very first blog post. Since that tentative start, the blog has found its niche among the thronging crowds of music blogs jostling for attention, and has taken off in a way that none of us involved in it could have ever imagined. We have now had around 75,000 individual page views for our home made articles on music, film, art and politics and enjoy comments and encouragement from every corner of the globe. That being so, we'd like to wish ourselves a Happy Birthday and extend a heartfelt Thank You to every one of you, The Streetlamp readers. To help us do that, here's Annalie Prime with a short song:
Annalie - Happy Birthday by +Annalie

 Griff xx

Griff says; Chalk and Numbers - school of classic pop.

It's not so long ago that I confessed to The Streetlamp's love of the bouncy and breezy pop candy-floss that is the classic 60s, girl-group, pop sound (see 'here'). So, if you're frequenting these pages in the hope of finding more music in that vein ( or, perhaps, just want a break from the melancholy, maudlin indie-folk I'm frequently touting) then tonight is your lucky night. The band I'm featuring tonight are a girl/boy duo from Brooklyn, New York, US who both have previous form in the world of indie music. The boy in question is Andrew Pierce ( formerly of Nouvellas and The New Rags) and the girl is Sable Yong (of Year of the Tiger). Together, they record under the name of Chalk and Numbers and in January of this year they released their debut EP, entitled 'He Knew', to widespread acclaim. The EP is available as a free download from their bandcamp page and if you like Camera Obscura, the Beach Boys or the Phil Spector sound ( I've certainly just pushed ALL of our Gordon's buttons) then you'll love this band.
The songs are written and arranged by Pierce and, in order to capture that authentic retro 60s feel, are apparently recorded using vintage analogue equipment. I've embedded the EP's stand-out track, 'When Summer Is Through', below to whet your appetite:



Now go check out the rest of their stuff!

Griff
xx