Archive for February, 2012

If I’d been able to come up with a title that conveys just how much I love The Jezabels it would’ve been here

Wednesday, February 29th, 2012

Nearly half-a-decade after starting this godforsaken blog and testing your patience with a dependably haphazard approach to posting, I finally have a platform to do the one thing I’ve been waiting to do all this time – scream LISTEN TO THIS BAND!

You could be forgiven for thinking this has never been a priority for me given that the subject matters of so many features on The Pop Cop are as far removed from the actual music as possible (Valentine’s Day cards? Cooking recipes?).

The reason I don’t make a habit of gushing about new bands is because I have this romantic belief that true greatness is not something any of us stumble across every day or every week. So if I’m going to recommend a group you might never have heard of before, I don’t want them to be liked by you – I want them to change your life.

Enter The Jezabels. I’ve been listening to the Sydneysiders for about a year now, but seeing them on stage for the first time a few days ago has made me wrestle with my own memories of previous times I was this overwhelmingly excited about a band’s career prospects… the three that immediately spring to mind are Sigur Rós at The Garage in 2000 (supporting/blowing away Godspeed You Black Emperor no less), Franz Ferdinand at the Art School in 2003 and Arcade Fire at the GUU Debating Chamber in 2005. After each of those nights in Glasgow, I remember being left with an inescapable compulsion to rave about them to everyone I thought might care and everyone else who didn’t.

The four parts of The Jezabels make a whole of mythical proportions. Take a drummer (Nik Kaloper) who could give The National’s Bryan Devendorf a run for his money when it comes to impact and ingenuity; take a guitarist (Sam Lockwood) who fashions dreamy pop melodies so button-pushingly stirring you’d think they’d been created in a science lab; take a keyboard player (Heather Shannon) who propels the epic mix to yet loftier heights, contributes delicious vocal harmonies and makes you forget the band don’t use bass; and take an entrancing singer (Hayley Mary) with equal measures of vulnerability and swagger who oozes star quality yet lays bare every lyric with unyielding sincerity.

The Aussie band, who described their appearance at Oran Mor in Glasgow last Sunday as the best gig they’d ever played, even have a few Scottish connections. The father of Hayley is Glaswegian (her real surname is McGlone) and when she was younger, the two of them used to busk, with her dad playing Celtic folk tunes on a harp. You might also recognise their song, A Little Piece, which was used in the second half of Skye stunt cycling legend Danny MacAskill’s video Way Back Home.

The Jezabels’ incredible debut album Prisoner gets an official UK release on March 5, although it has been available to buy on import for several months. The group also have an additional 15 songs to call on from the three EPs in their back catalogue, which features a host of fan favourites such as the phenomenal Hurt Me. And, oh yeah, LISTEN TO THIS BAND!

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T in the Park 2012 line-up

Thursday, February 23rd, 2012

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You gotta fight for your right to party

Tuesday, February 21st, 2012

The finality of this Six Feet Under slogan seems apt in a year where Scotland’s music fans are already reeling from the loss – or impending loss – of two Edinburgh venues (Cabaret Voltaire and The Bongo Club), two BBC Radio Scotland shows (Janice Forsyth and Mary Ann Kennedy’s Global Gathering), two decent bands (The Dykeenies and Pareto), one independent Glasgow club night (Pin Up Nights) and the ability to host free events without coughing up more than £100 to the council for a Public Entertainment Licence (see petition).

There is some positive news to offset the bad, though. While The Bongo Club fights eviction and G1 Group’s “retro arcade game/Lego-themed” refurbishment of the soon-to-be-rechristened Cabaret Voltaire looks like being the makeover from hell, The Liquid Room is opening two new venues at its existing site this year. The first, called The Annexe, will host regular 250-capacity club nights from February 25 (info/tickets), while the second is expected be ready in the latter half of 2012 and will see its basement converted into another live music space.

Futhermore, The Assembly Bar, which adjoins The Third Door, will open in spring under a new name after undergoing a revamp which will include a stage for acoustic musicians.

As for the furore over the axing of Janice Forsyth and Mary Ann Kennedy’s shows, well, if the Save BBC Introducing campaign has taught me anything, it’s that making a fuss makes a difference – whether it be signing a petition, emailing politicians, or even just ‘liking’ a Facebook campaign. Sheer strength of numbers and strength of feeling really can persuade those who make unpopular decisions to have a rethink.

Jeff Zycinski, head of radio at BBC Scotland, was good enough to answer a few questions I put to him on this matter.

How important were current audience listening figures for the shows in relation to the decision to scrap them?
“Listening figures are, of course, taken into consideration but that’s not the only factor. In any case I always look at long-term trends rather than the quarterly Rajar [audience measurement] reports. Here, the changes are part of the strategy we have agreed with the BBC Trust. In the Trust report it was noted that the variety of content and the shift from one genre to another probably leads to lower listening hours. And we do know that Radio 2 is a big draw for Scottish listeners in daytime hours. The Trust has been keen to ensure that BBC stations don’t offer overlapping content and that our content is distinctive. That’s the main reason for the change. We are moving towards offering more speech in daytime and specialist music in the evening.”

Was the decision to make these changes prompted by directives from London?
“No, the BBC doesn’t work that way. We draw up the strategy in Scotland based on our research and the Trust take a view on it. It’s their job – alongside the Audience Council for Scotland – to represent the views of all licence-fee payers… including those who aren’t listening. The Trust always want to ensure that, with tighter budgets, we don’t compromise on quality. So we’re reconfiguring our evening music output to ensure that each programme has sufficient resources to include live music, exclusive sessions, concerts from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and coverage of festivals like Celtic Connections. Sadly, that means we’re losing Global Gathering from that mix.”

The cuts have been met with petitions/Facebook groups/political pressure – are these people wasting their time in hoping for a reprieve or would you reconsider the decision to scrap the shows if there was a strong enough groundswell of feeling/public opinion against the changes?
“As I say, we always look at things in the longer term so when we make a change to the schedule we will review the impact over the course of a year. We would look at all the audience research at that point. By that time listeners would have a chance to hear the new line-up of programmes and tell us what they think.”

If this is something you feel strongly about, check out the Janice Forsyth show petition and the Mary Ann Kennedy’s Global Gathering show petition.

Cabaret Voltaire’s last-ever event is Karnival club night on February 25 (tickets), while Pin Up Nights’ final two events at the Flying Duck are ‘Ladies Night’ featuring Kid Canaveral, The Plimptons, Fanny Pelmet And The Bastard Suits and Wild Beasts (DJ set) on February 24 (tickets), followed by ‘Game Over’ featuring Miaoux Miaoux and Sonny Marvello (and possibly Jarvis Cocker – see petition) on March 30 (tickets).

Finally, here are my favourite songs by The Dykeenies and Pareto to remember them by now that they’ve split up (I’m guessing their fans were too petitioned-out to launch a ‘please reconsider’ campaign):

The Dykeenies – Sounds Of The City