*NEW MONTHLY FEATURE* Laura McBeth's 'Life Through Music'

Life through Lists Music

My First...

I'm not an authority on music, I'm leading with that. I'm not even an authority on lists. But I do like them (click here for proof) and I do like music (click here for even more proof). So, if I set your expectations there, this should work out.

As this is my first list for NE:MM, and never one to ignore the writers life-raft better known as a 'theme', this is my list of music-based firsts...


1. The First Song I Heard

‘Caravan of Love’ ~ Housemartins

I’m exercising a bit of artistic license with ‘first heard’; this came out at the tail end of 1986, at which time, I was two years old. Undoubtedly, I’d heard other songs before then, but this is the first one I remember hearing, and the one that my family mercilessly bring up in the presence of any man I’ve ever introduced them to.

I still quite like this song, but none of the other stuff by the Housemartins. I am marginally comforted by band member Norman Cook who eventually, released from his cocoon became Fat Boy Slim, who was pretty influential in my music tastes as I grew older, but this is soured by other band members forming The Beautiful South; a group that would certainly be top of my “cannot, will not, listen to” list.

2. The First Band I Loved

The Strokes

Before The Strokes, there was Nirvana, The Prodigy, No Doubt, Stereophonics, Ocean Colour Scene, Oasis – loads of bands, that I thought I loved. But it wasn’t a true, enduring love.

The Strokes were the first band that I adored, completely unencumbered by friend’s opinions or peer pressure… peer pressure is what makes you listen to ‘Good Riddance’ by Greenday on repeat every day, peer pressure forces you pretend that you actually care about the Blur/Oasis rivalry, peer pressure makes you deny your deep seated love of UK Garage. Peer pressure is no good for no-one.

Is This It? by The Strokes is without question one of the most unstoppably fucking brilliant albums of our generation. It’s nonchalant and laced with apathy whilst at the same time capturing moments of fervent spontaneity and excitement.

This album was right place, right time, right sound, right band.
And Julian Casblancas is probably the coolest man on the planet.


3. The First Single I Bought

‘Bump n Grind’ ~ R Kelly

I was ten years old (too young for R Kelly?)
It was a cassette tape. It was £1.99.
I’ve got nothing else.


4. The First Band I Saw Live

Ocean Colour Scene

I saw Ocean Colour Scene in height of the Britpop hullaballoo following their “critically acclaimed” album Moseley Shoals (incidentally, featuring on the front over, Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa – my former hometown and home of Nizlopi…); I was about twelve I think, and to be honest was less fussed about seeing the band and more about impressing an older boy who was obviously, a Lambretta sporting Mod-a-like disciple of the British indie band movement that occupied much of the mid-90s.

The gig, was overwhelming and brilliant and slightly terrifying, being essentially, a child.

NB: Around the same time, I accidentally walked past Steps, performing at the Coventry city centre Christmas light switch on. This is an illegal submission based on the definition of ‘band’ – a group of musicians and vocalists.


5. The First Band That Changed My Mind

Bloc Party

Silent Alarm is another one of those albums, alongside the likes of Is This It?, Nirvana Unplugged in New York and Pink Friday by Nicki Minaj (no? Just me then…) that just smacks you in the face and changes your opinion and playlists for ever more.

My major music influences were handed down to me from my dad; The Jam, The Smiths, The Kinks. Or, put simply: GUITARS. Men and guitars.

Then; Oasis, The Strokes, Nirvana, Stereophonics. Or, put simply: more guitars. I knew in which camp I resided, and it certainly was not the electronic or syncopated or techno or house “camps”. Eurgh.

And then this. A band that seemed to bridge the two genres of indie and dance (“dancepunk” people in the know call it) and undoubtedly paved the way for the likes of Late of the Pier, MGMT, Foals and Klaxons; to name just a few. For me anyway, they were a gateway to a whole world of music I’d never have considered before.

Bloc Party are intense and frantic and rousing and thoughtful and melancholy. And they play guitars sometimes.


Words: Laura McBeth

TRAVIS - Sage, Gateshead - 23rd October 2013

In my mind a venue like Sage Gateshead is usually reserved for high brow classical, jazz and soul acts. Tonight it is host to a Scottish indie band who headlined Glastonbury in 2000. Travis are welcomed by a crowd who probably remember them first time around, and then some.  The Glasgow guys enter a darkened stage and open with the new track ‘Mother’ then into the catchy 2008 track ‘Selfish Jean’.  It is worth noting their new album ‘Where You Stand’ is their first after taking a five year hiatus to ‘become Dads’ according to front man Fran Healy. 

The band throw in classic singles such as ‘Driftwood’ and ‘Side’ between new material reminding the audience of the rainy summer of 2000. The show climaxes with Healy belting out their breakthrough ballad ‘Turn’ demonstrating they have still got it. 

The Scottish four-piece exit stage left but the show isn’t over yet. The crowd erupts as Travis re-emerge and turn off the amps for an unplugged version of ‘Flowers In The Window’ using the Sage’s brilliant sound design, their voices and acoustic guitars. A truly magical performance.  Power is back on as they finish with ’Why Does It always Rain On Me?’ which has a lasting impression with t-shirts reading ‘Is It Because I Lied When I Was 17’ in the lobby. 

In essence a classic performance from an indie band who shouldn’t be invisible. The band who paved the way for today’s acts like Mumford and Sons and Tom Odell. 

Words: Neale McGeever

WILKINSON - Lazers Not Included

The rise of drum and bass producer Wilkinson is probably only a couple of asteroids short of being meteoric. He first came to attention with a tidy release on the Hospital Records compilation Sick Music 2, a cute, uplifting, number entitled ‘Hypnosis’, which despite being one of the better tunes on the compilation seemed to slip under the radar somewhat. As a result, when he was signed exclusively to (arguably) the biggest drum and bass label in the business, Ram Records, many brows were furrowed and several ribs were nudged. “Who’s this Wilkinson fella?” we muttered incredulously. “He’s just signed for Ram, apparently. But who on earth is he?”

I guess this is testament both to Ram’s knack for spotting unpolished talent, and also to the relative uselessness of drum and bass watchers (i.e. me). For what followed was rather astonishing. His first single, released in 2010, was called ‘Moonwalker’. Innocuous enough title, you may think, but deary deary me. Hell fire and brimstone. When I first heard it, I was, like everyone else, completely unprepared. Consequently, when that drill-like synth and those space-age beeps came whirling out of my speakers, my face melted like Swiss cheese on a George Foreman and my eyes widened to the size of Mystic Meg’s crystal ball. It was quite simply one of the biggest tunes of the year, and it came out of absolutely nowhere. Then, on the other hand, we’ve had releases like ‘Tonight’, which refrain from liquefying your face and instead lull it into a blissful state of hands-in-the-air euphoria.  Thus, we have the two main styles of Wilkinson’s music: the face destroying (Moonwalker, Overdose, et al) and the face soothing (Tonight, Every Time, and so on). This is not to say that the face soothing is not dancefloor orientated: it absolutely is. With these few singles under his belt, both approaches have now been thrown into a melting pot, the result of which is his debut album, ‘Lazers Not Included’.

With this, Wilkinson becomes the latest drum and bass producer to poke his head above the parapet of mainstream success. It has become somewhat of a blasphemy to do this recently, as, in drum and bass circles, mainstream success is now almost instantly associated with selling out: with betraying your ‘original’ fans for money and wider recognition. This is, of course, utter nonsense in most cases, and is even less the case with this album. The majority of the ‘face soothing’ tunes on here absolutely sparkle. ‘Afterglow’ is the obvious contender for such a critic-bashing, having reached No. 8 in the UK Charts, but it is a superb, dreamy affair, with Becky Hill (the one off The Voice) layering a pleasant vocal over a stunning arrangement of sparse breaks and deep bass. If Rudimental gave Calibre a massage, it might sound like this. Further down the tracklist, ‘Need to Know’ features a nice guitar intro, reminiscent of Marky and Stamina’s seminal ‘LK’, before the deep, smooth bass and euphoric synth take over. ‘Take You Higher’ and the vinyl only ‘Casino’ fit into this mould rather well too, and it is all very well done: laser (or, more aptly, ‘Lazer’) precise and skilfully arranged.

The ‘face destroying’ sound is well covered as well. For instance, ‘Like It Hard’ is a brutal, swinging Dillinja-esque affair, while I expect listening to ‘Sleepless’ on an even half-decent sound-system will induce a facial expression not dissimilar to the one depicted in Edward Munch’s painting of The Scream.  In fact, the bad parts of this album are very few and far between. There is only one tune on it that I heartily dislike: ‘Heartbeat’, with P Money and Arlissa on vocals. I’m not sure if it’s trying to be a moody, grime tinged clash or a no nonsense drumstep banger, and in the end it unsatisfactorily ends up being neither. Even if it succeeded in being one or the other, I probably still wouldn’t like it. The fusion of grime and drum and bass has never sat well with me for some reason, and neither has drumstep. But this doesn’t really matter. For the real selling point of this album is that Wilkinson’s seamless standard of production permeates through at every turn, oozing through both the face destroying and face soothing sounds. I don’t like ‘Heartbeat’, but to deny it is expertly produced would be as silly as removing your trousers in the middle of a shopping mall. 

All in all then, this LP is simultaneously a very good drum and bass album and a very good breakthrough album. It achieves a happy (and hard to achieve, it should be said) balance between the fizzy, over-polished sound of the likes of DJ Fresh and Sub Focus and the dark, gritty sounds of Dillinja and Mampi Swift. As a consequence, it is easy to recommend, whatever style of electronic music you may happen to be into. So, dear readers, pick it up and give it a listen. You may be pleasantly surprised.

Words: Matthew Scott

GOLDHEART ASSEMBLY - Cluny, Newcastle - 22nd October 2013

I wasn't too familiar with the music of Goldheart Assembly before I decided to attend this gig. I knew the local support bands and liked them so decided to go along in the hope that I'd like the headliner and in the expectation I'd enjoy the openers. 

The Shooting Of... started the show. Paul Jeans is a really talented chap. Excellent writer of quirky keyboard-based songs who also plays drums, guitar and kazoo! His between song banter is always good and though his vocals seemed slightly hampered by an ear condition he was close to his usual excellent self. 

Cattle & Cane are a band I've long followed though never seen live. Perhaps my expectations were too high but I'm sad to report that they did not wow me. The songs are good and the lead vocalist excellent but the close harmonies I was hoping to hear didn't impress, lacking impact somehow. I should say that I was probably in the minority in this view; the crowd around me certainly didn't seem disappointed, rather very satisfied. 

Goldheart Assembly began their set with a superb cover of Tom Waits' 'Clap Hands' and I was instantly hooked. The London 5-piece displayed swagger, personality and craft throughout a thrilling and engaging set of folk-rock songs that brought to mind Midlake, Dry The River, Band of Horses. Vocal duties were shared between James Dale and John Herbert. Dale's voice in particular was impressive; tender and fragile (think Jason Lytle of Grandaddy) at times but strong when it suited. Kyle Hall's guitar work was excellent but no one member outshone the band as a whole. Unfamiliar tracks that stuck in my mind long after the gig included 'So Long, St. Christopher' from the band's debut album 'Wolves & Thieves' and the brilliantly titled 'Stephanie and the Ferris Wheel' from new album 'Long Distance Song Effects'. Both cds are now in my collection. Goldheart Assembly have a new fan. 

Words and picture (phone, sorry): Russell Poad