Alt-classical

In Alex Ross’s collection of his New Yorker articles, Listen to This, he touches on the concept of Alt-classical, the part of the musical landscape where rock, jazz and contemporary classical music come together. You could argue that one of the composers at the apex of this crossover is Nico Muhly, arranging orchestral scores for indie bands on the one hand and critically feted for his original compositions. He leads a gang which seem to cross over on both sides too, his cello soloist tonight Olly Coates who also performs jazz and organises more experimental bills and his previous violin soloist Thomas Gould who performs more like a rock star on stage than a classical soloist. From the other side, he has led more folky performers such as Sam Amidon and Doveman.

Although tonight was billed as the European and World premières of pieces by Missy Mazzoli, Owen Pallett and Nico Muhly, this was more like a night with Muhly. First off, Missy Mazzoli’s Violent, Violent Sea sounded quite tame when performed by a chamber orchestra. Though that could also have been due my position in the cheap(er) seats at the front.

Owen Pallett‘s first violin concerto was an interesting piece. The first movement started out being fairly tame, and you could just about imagine Owen singing the violin part as one of his songs. The faster movements (movements two and four) were a lot more exciting and the technical skill required was fascinating to watch. By the end of the concerto, Pekka Kuusisto the soloist had lost about half the hairs from his bow. It was a pretty good debut, and it will be intriguing to see where Pallet goes next with this type of composition.

However, of the three new pieces, undoubtedly the best was Muhly’s Cello Concerto. Whilst it had the trademark Muhly gloss and swell, it was also the must fully formed and full sounding piece of the three. The only criticism of Muhly’s compositions is that they all seem to end so suddenly, as if he has just been distracted by something else. This was certainly the case for the Cello concerto as well as some of his other arrangements later on in the evening.

In another demonstration of the cross over nature of this gang of musicians, the evening finished with an hour of more informal songs and performances without the full orchestra. The highlight of this section was the heartbreaking arrangement of Only Love Can Break Your Heart which emerged from out of nowhere (well, segued from a song by Sam Amidon). Muhly’s involvement was audible in all parts of this performance, sprinkling a glossy sheen and dense, comforting string arrangement. So much so, that when the concert ended it was like emerging from a very cosy duvet.

A List of things which are in consideration when deciding to go to a gig

It’s been a while since the last update, probably pretty reflective of the amount of interest I’ve placed in new music in the past few months. So far this year I’ve been to three gigs with a fair representation of the factors which affect whether I go to a show or not.

1) It was free
The first gig of the year was a free show at 93 feet east (breaking one of my gig rules about the location of a venue, more later). But, it was free and I went to catch up with a friend. Subsequently, I paid very little attention to the bands, who seemed a bit rubbish.  

2) I played at the gig
The second gig of the year was a lot more fun, with A Little Orchestra curating a How Does it Feel night at the Buffalo Bar. We played with one of my teenage music heroes (Shirley Lee from Spearmint) and also one of my favourite discoveries from last year (Haiku Salut). Performing is probably a good reason to show up at a gig.

3) It’s in a church
Actually this rule not only applies to churches but also concert venues with seating (such as the Barbican or the concert room at Kings Place). Somehow pureple don’t chat so much in these more formal environments. Last night I saw Active Child for the second time in a church. I’ve spent a lot of time listening to the album recently, but what struck me more live was just how great the synths are in his songs. The church is a great setting for this sort of music.

Main reason not to go to a gig
4) location of the venue
While I would probably still trek across London for a particularly good gig, there are areas I would also avoid for the types if crowd it would attract. One such obvious area is Shoreditch, which has changed so much even in the few years I’ve lived in London. Add to this list a couple of venues where I’ve never had a good experience (Shepherds Bush Empire and The Kentish Town Forum), it turns intoo a pretty good money-saving device as I don’t have very many gigs left to choose from!

Anyone (in Oxford) can play guitar

When I was 13 I once moaned to a penpal that Oxford was very dull and there was nothing to do apart from shopping (and being dragged round Cornmarket by my mum wasn’t much fun either). The only exciting thing to happen was a Radio 1 roadshow at South Park, which I wasn’t allowed to go to. Listening to it on the radio instead, I heard a band called Ride, who were from Oxford. By the next Summer I started to read Nightshift and then Sound City came along, and I began to discover that Oxford wasn’t such a dull place after all. In fact, I started to think that every city had a local scene like this and long lists of great bands that couldn’t quite break through. It was only many years later that I realised just quite how lucky we were in Oxford and since then had difficulties explaining to others just how I spent my spare time in the early 2000s.

If I have to do that now, I’ll just need to sit them down in front of ‘Anyone Can Play Guitar’. It tells the story of successive generations of Oxford bands, each one just about managing to do that little bit more than the last generation, until you get to the R-word (Tallulah Gosh, Ride,.Servedriver), but at the same time it also tells the more familiar story to many Oxford bands of the might have beens (Dustball, The Rock of Travolta, The Candyskins). It’s not just about the bands as distinct units, but also how they helped each other out.

Of course with a film like this it doesn’t tell the full story. There are loads of other bands who didn’t get a mention, and it was mainly focused around Jericho and the Cowley Road. But it is a great scrapbook of memories and made me glad I grew up in Oxford after all.

Female role models

It appears that the theme for this year’s gigs are revisiting bands from my youth and well loved albums. Halfway through Electrelane’s set tonight, something clicked, and I realised that the band had come along just at the right time of my life. They were around during my early 20s, when everything was hopeful and it felt like that I could do anything with my life. Just like Electrelane’s music and attutude.

They may well be the only band I can think of who have suceeded within the strict confines of the music industry. They are four girls, but they don’t need to play up their femininity. Mia’s guitar playing tonight was jawdropping, beating anything that most other guitarists would do. The layers and depth of their songs bring comfort and yet aren’t dull. They prove that who you are doesn’t really matter. All you need is the intelligence and bravery to go out there and just do it. It’s a good reminder that there are still a great number of possibilities out there.