Song, by Toad

About a year ago I interviewed Monkey Swallows the Universe, a gorgeous pop band shortly to be going on “indefinite hiatus”. This was a bizarre turn of events for almost every fan because their second album The Casket Letters had recently broken pretty significant ground for the band, helped particularly by a plug on Gorilla vs. Bear, according to the band. They seemed to be on the way up, their audience was rapidly expanding, and people seemed to be getting really excited about them. They seemed, in short, on the up.

The indefinite hiatus came as something of a shock, and so I thought I might have a try at interviewing them before the Edinburgh date of their farewell tour. I was curious to ask about the past, what had caused the split and things like that, but if they didn’t want to talk about that then I was equally happy to discuss their plans for the future. What I got was interesting, funereal, and if the interview had been a professional assignment, something of a disaster.

The first question I asked was whether or not I was allowed to ask about why they were going on hiatus or whether they’d rather I just ignored it and concentrated on the future.

“Yeah, why are we going on hiatus? We’d all like to know that.” was the only response I got. There was an uncomfortable silence, into which Natalie Johnson, the lead singer, inserted some platitudes taken straight from the world of professional football when a manager’s contract is terminated by ‘mutual consent’: not permanent… still good friends… just exploring some different things… the usual way of making it obvious that the different parties to the agreement might well give some very, very different answers to the ones they were all presenting to the public, but that that was all the answer we were going to get.

Okay, so the future, then. I tried that one, but was met with the same sort of stony, glum, painfully awkward silence. No-one, it seemed, had any plans. And then it really struck me what sort of a situation everyone in the room was in. A guitarist without a band is really nothing at all. Everyone had just gone from being part of a much-loved, upwardly mobile indie band with modest but respectable ambitions and a healthy chance of achieving them to the equivalent of the bartender who calls himself an actor. A band is something. A musician, not so much.

Basically, it takes an incredibly long time and an awful lot of energy to build up momentum in the music industry, and that was now all pretty much for nothing. It’s like a relationship – part of the horror of breaking up is not just the personal loss, but the aching weariness of having to go through all that again. The only person who had any sort of direction for the future seemed to be lead singer Natalie Johnson, who already by this stage had a MySpace page with a couple of good songs up and at least half an idea of what was going to happen next. Now it is easy to suggest that the band split because she wanted a solo career and no-one else really had any say in the decision whatsoever, but I really have no idea. Based on the information I have, which is minimal, it seems plausible, but then so does almost any other hypothesis you could put forward.

Her solo career seems to be in good shape though, because she’s back working with the eminently splendid indie label Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation, after the equally excellent Loose Music (think Felice Brothers, Willard Grant Conspiracy, The Handsome Family, The Ralfe Band) released The Casket Letters. Her first single is now out, it’s called Dirty Rotten Soul, and it’s really very good indeed. There’s a little more country in the mix than in MStU stuff, but the lovely voice is intact, as is the knack for a sweet melody. The b-side, Mexico, isn’t quite as arresting for me because it doesn’t fell all that distinctive, despite its prettiness. The two bonus demo songs on the CD are lovely though, so it seems that something good might at least come out of the demise of such a good band.

It was a shame though, because I loved their music. At the end of the gig, as an unusually emotional Edinburgh crowd asked for an encore I suggested Chicken Fat Waltz, and the same band member who wanted to know the reason for the hiatus just started playing the song without waiting for an answer from his lead singer. I don’t know, I could so easily be making a mountain out of a molehill, but it seemed just a little symptomatic of the unhappy atmosphere in the dressing room before the show. Who really knows though. I certainly don’t, but it was a weird, weird interview.

Nat Johnson – Heart of Clay (Demo)
Nat Johnson – All This
Monkey Swallows the Universe – The Chicken Fat Waltz
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Sheffield Shanty

Nat Johnson’s Website | Buy the single from Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation

This was the last ever gig, barring a surprise reunion, by Sheffield folk-pop wonders Monkey Swallows the Universe. I interviewed them beforehand, so I’ll write more about the split in due course. In many ways it was a disastrous interview, but perhaps the more interesting for it in some ways, but I’ll let you come to your own conclusions on that when the time comes.

This was one of those rare occasions where the Edinburgh crowd suddenly and surprisingly has one of its good days.  Cutting edge indie may go down like a shit sandwich in this city, but slightly eccentric folk music is dearly loved and Cabaret Voltaire was full of a very appreciative crowd.  After a couple of slightly bizarre gigs in Scotland, the band seemed relieved and pleased to be playing their last gig in front of a healthy audience who gave them plenty of love.

Well as they played though, and as good a reception as they got, it still seemed just a little like a wake unfortunately.  They were a great band, and it’s a crying shame that they’re packing it in, albeit not necessarily permanently.

Monkey Swallows the Universe – The Chicken Fat Waltz I called for this during the encore, and many thanks to Kev who just started playing it, despite the band’s protests (“We haven’t practised this one!”) until they all just joined in.  Brilliant.
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Little Polveir

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What a frustrating week in gigs – both Monday and Wednesday have overlapping shows I would love to go to, and sadly I can’t do both. Although according to Rob himself I could perhaps nip from the Wee Red Bar just in time to catch him onstage at 10.30 at Henry’s. Depends on your priorities of course.

Monday 11th February: Monkey Swallows the Universe at Cabaret Voltaire.
The Casket Letters was a low-key masterpiece, and this will be the last chance to see these guys play as they have called it quits for reasons as yet unknown. Lush, gorgeous, folky indiepop and absolutely not to be missed.
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Chicken Fat Waltz

Monday 11th February: Art Brut at The Hive.
Fucking arse. MStU on the same day and unfortunately something had to give, and it was Art Brut. Their slightly bizzare brand of fit-pop is oddly fascinating, deeply patchy and occasionally brilliant. I’d be there in a heartbeat if not for the bloody clash with the above gig. Arse.
Art Brut – Bang, Bang, Rock & Roll!

Wednesday 13th February: Broken Records at The Wee Red Bar.
Who? I hear you ask? Broken Records? Why’ve you not mentioned them before? Okay okay, I get the picture. But they’re great, they’re playing live and they have a single on the way – what’s not to love? Thanks again to Euan and Bart from Trampoline for another great lineup too – I don’t know anything much about support acts The Sweetheart Revue or Dead Beat Club, but I will be there early and make sure I find out!
Broken Records – Slow Parade

Wednesday 13th February: Rob St.John at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
There are a few others playing as part of the Hollow Heart Parlour monthly acoustic night, which I know nothing about, but really think I should investigate. Rob’s gorgeous EP of hush-folk was one of the highlights of (late, late, late) 2007 and there are only a couple of copies left. Because of the dash from the Broken Records gig I will miss the support, but if you are more acoustically minded get there early for Lindsay West, Ainslie Henderson and Anna K. Jarosz (who is, with all due deference to my glittering princess Mrs. Toad, rather fit. Sheesh sometimes I wish I wasn’t quite so shallow and predictable. Unfortunately I don’t wish it quite enough to actually stop being shallow and predictable, it seems.)
Rob St.John – The Acid Test

Thursday 14th February: The Phantom Band at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
I know nothing about The Phantom Band apart from the fact that they have just been signed by legendary Glasgow label Chemikal Underground, and that acoustic genius Rick Redbeard plays guitar for them. They sound nothing like him unfortunately, so here’s a wee reminder of how bloody great his music is. That’s his sister on backing vocals – what a bloody gorgeous voice.
Rick Redbeard – Blood

Saturday 16th February: The Low Miffs at Henry’s Cellar Bar.
You have to see these lads. Literate (very literate in fact) spiky, ambitious, and a wee bit retro. I have very, very high hopes for The Low Miffs this year.

The Low Miffs – Cressida

If a week like this doesn’t get me a fucking divorce then nothing will – especially when you factor in the fact that I am dragging Mrs. Toad through to Glasgow on Friday to see Frightened Rabbit and Popup, and then trying to talk her into recording an anti-Valentine’s podcast on Tuesday evening. Oh yes, that reminds me: apparently it’s bloody Valentine’s Day on Thursday. Fuck that for a game of soldiers.

6. Richmond Fontaine – Thirteen Cities

Willy Vlautin is one of the most gifted storytellers in modern music. I have never known anyone so effortlessly evocative. This is a desert western classic, all beauty and rambling stories about drifters and losers, the normal and the ordinary.

Richmond Fontaine – The Kid From Belmont Street

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7. Monkey Swallows the Universe – The Casket Letters

Sometimes God is a bastard. These characters have gone on potentially permanent ‘hiatus’ just as I started to get all excited about them. The Casket Letters is one of the loveliest albums of gentle folk-pop you’re likely to hear, and then they go and pack in it. Swine!

Monkey Swallows the Universe – Down

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8. The Sequins – The Death of Style

Genuinely innovative style, boisterous and the very definition of infectious. Who’d have thought Coventry was so much bloody fun!

The Sequins – When the Flames Went Out

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9. Ray’s Vast Basement – Starvation Under Orange Trees

Beautiful, wistful and very old fashioned. This is an album of dust-bowl Americana with a sprinkling of loveliness, all based on the work of John Steinbeck which, on listening to the album, is no surprise at all.

Ray’s Vast Basement – California’s Gone

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10. The 63 Crayons – Spoils For Survivors

Electronic and relentless, always travelling forwards. The band Kasabian wish they could have been.

The 63 Crayons – The Squeeze

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That’s rhetorical. The answer, presumably, is yes. Richard Hawley is an odd man to be slowly turning into an indie hero, but it appears that this is just what he is doing.

Spells playing guitar with The Longpigs and Pulp add indie heft to his past, but it is definitely as a songwriter that he has slowly but surely made a pretty significant mark on the music world. Mrs. Toad spends a lot of time ferreting about on the Guardian website and she assures me that the Graun writers froth over the man with an enthusiasm bordering on indecency. Micah P. Hinson covered one of his songs on his last UK tour, which I thought was really odd for a tortured Texan troubadour. How on earth had he come across Richard Hawley?

Then here I was listening to an Arctic Monkeys song which popped up on my randomiser and what do I hear but tones of Richard Hawley’s unmistakable 50s guitar sound. The Sheffield scene is buzzing at the moment, with the likes of The Long Blondes, The Arctics and Milburn in recent years all adding to the rock solid cred of legends like The Wedding Present and Pulp. That said, although the indie rock scene is well represented, I was considering doing a bit of a post on the likes of Hawley and the brilliant Monkey Swallows the Universe to highlight the slightly alternative side to this boom in Steel City music. Wrongly, it appears, I got the impression that everyone thought Sheffield was rock and that these more interesting groups were not quite being given their due.

It appears I was a little out with that assumption and, rather wonderfully, there seems to be a growing interest in genuinely eccentric music that makes a real effort to follow its own course. Music that isn’t railroaded into the classic indie 3-4 minute guitar track with as good a hook and as catchy a chorus as you can write. Not that I don’t enjoy a lot of the radio fodder, but it is really nice to see The Arctic Monkeys paying homage to Hawley and not vice versa and reflects well on both bands. Viva iconoclasm!

Arctic Monkeys – The Bakery
Richard Hawley – Just Like the Rain
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Sheffield Shanty

If a bright slice of beguiling folk-pop is what you’re after then look no further.  Given the recent associations of being a Sheffield band, this lot come as something of a break from the norm, although within the wider context of English music as a whole it is a little easier to place.  Generally I would say this album fits within the quite wide swathe of delicate, charming and generally playful folk music being cut across the nation’s music scene at the moment.  A good deal of it is from in and around London, but Monkey Swallows the Universe certainly seem to have far more in common with this particular movement than they do with anything more local, although I am open to correction on that.

The record itself is often very gentle and very beautiful, and a good deal of it is highly reminiscent of Everthing But the Girl’s Acoustic album of about fifteen years ago.  In fact Nat Johnson’s voice is very evocative of Tracy Thorn, but I’d take this lot over that bunch any day!  The fiddle, cello and recorder (Recorder?? Yes, recorder.  This is rock ‘n’ roll, bitches.) add the traditional touch, but it is the touchingly personal songs that really make this for me.  Underpinning the jaunty acoustic folk-pop and the wistful melancholia equally, are gently and carefully told personal anecdotes delivered with a touchingly plain honesty.

Surprisingly enough, for such an unassuming band, they had a pretty devoted following at the End of the Road Festival, so we could just have a satisfying little success story on our hands here.  Richly deserved too, I’d say.

Monkey Swallows the Universe – Sheffield Shanty
Monkey Swallows the Universe – Jimmy Down the Well

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My what a splendid festival. You’ve read what I had to say about the thing (overview, day one, day two & day three), now here’s the ‘downloadable in one easy to digest chunk’ version, with more tunes.

I had a splendid time at this, I really did. The line-up was spectacularly good and, despite being not much more than a well-executed variant on the standard festival format, I would highly recommend it to those of you sick of the exercise in cattle-herding and aggressively intrusive marketing that the modern festival has become.

Anyhow, I’ve gone through the festival in chronological order, playing songs from artists in the order in which I attended them over the weekend. Hopefully I give you a decent overview of the festival itself as well as a taster of the quality of the lineup, from the indie legends to the connoisseur’s selection of emerging acts that made this such a quality bill. No ranting in this one either, or at least, very little. What a relief for you all.

Toadcast #12 – The End of the Roadcast

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1. Midlake – Young Bride (02.08)
2. Yo La Tengo – By the Time it Gets Dark (07.43)
3. My Brightest Diamond – Dragonfly (14.17)
4. King Creosote – You’ve No Clue Do You (23.19)
5. Monkey Swallows the Universe – Sheffield Shanty (28.29)
6. David Thomas Broughton – Unmarked Grave (34.56)
7. British Sea Power – Remember Me (46.11)
8. Port O’Brien – Five & Dime (51.39)
9. The Young Republic – Excuses to See You (56.14)
10. The Wave Pictures – Long Island (63.28)
11. Johnny Flynn & the Sussex Wit – Tickle Me Pink (70.44)
12. Paris Motel – My Demeter (77.20)
13. Charlie Parr – Worried Blues (80.53)
14. Howe Gelb – Get to Leave (88.34)
15. Lambchop – Up With People (95.35)

Well Saturday started with a fair bit of confusion. I was supposed to be interviewing Howe Gelb at 11am but that fell through (in a tremendously tedious and long-winded game of telephone tag) and has now been downgraded to an email interview and the promise that I can have another go the next time Howe is in the UK which, given there is a new Giant Sand album relatively close to release, should hopefully not be all that long.

So that one didn’t happen but I did end up, at about one-ish, having a lovely chat with Shara Worden from My Brightest Diamond which I shall be writing up over the weekend some time, I hope. I am not sure what these rock star types make of my interview technique, to be honest. Instead of trying to come up with questions I tend to just try and talk to them about music for a bit and see what sort of stuff makes them tick and what kind of people they are and find out how they approach their music. It probably comes across as a bit unstructured, which it is, but lists of questions don’t really interest me at all, so until I get blacklisted this is what they’ll get.

Anyhow, after talking to Shara (please note: first name terms there – ooh yeah!) I pottered about a bit, caught the tail end of Slow Club at the Bimble Inn, and found some salad and a smoothie to help ameliorate my hangover. My tent neighbours led me astray with – not a word of a lie – tequila and pink champagne on Friday night so I was still a little tender by the time the gigs started on Saturday.

Alessi: She is painfully, painfully shy and with a really rather odd voice. She hated the mic and the amp, casting it off and playing unplugged for a song, and throughout the show looked a little like one mean spirited heckle could have reduced her to tears on the spot. That said, I actually thought she was ace: engaging, charming and a talented songwriter. I can’t exactly foresee fame and fortune, but if she’s playing I’d say she is certainly worth going along to see. Gentle, personal acoustic songwriting, and a genuinely lovely lass to boot.
MySpace

Alessi – My Bedroom

My Brightest Diamond: Christ on a bicycle this woman rocks. A wee slip of a lass, knee high to a dragonfly, metes out some serious guitar punishment in-between bouts of alternate vocal gymnastics and vocal loveliness. It’s quite dazzling to see, and she really plays and sings with quite genuine ferocity. If you are even a casual fan, honestly go and see her live if you get the chance. She’s touring the UK with the Young Republic at the moment and I can’t suggest a better way to spend your money.
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My Brightest Diamond – Magic Rabbit

The Young Republic: This was my first chance to see these guys live, and I’ve been excited about them for ages and indeed *clears superior indie-snob throat* writing about them since before they were signed, so I feel I have paid my dues in terms of patient waiting. They had three different shows pencilled in for EotR so they started the set with Tonight I’ll be Staying Here With You by Dylan, which came from a set of Dylan songs they were working on for the following day. It was the Rolling Thunder Revue version as well, not the Nashville Skyline one, which I actually found shed some light on them as a band because they did seem just like the Rolling Thunder Revue at that point. Still, an excellent set, and they came across as very confident and entirely comfortable on stage, which impressed me for a band on their first international tour.
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The Young Republic – That Won’t Change the Sight (Of Your Heart Rolling By)

King Creosote: On the back of his new album of splendid indie pop album Bombshell, the King is touring with a genuine spring in his step. Uncle Beesly on Bass was arsing about with a sheep mask (I have no idea, don’t ask), The Pictish Trail was forever interjecting with smart-arsed banter and Kenny himself was bouncing around like a man having the time of his life. They just look like they’re having so much fun at the moment, it’s brilliant. So boo sucks to Tim and his mates for not liking the new amped-up sound – I think it’s a fucking blast.
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King Creosote – Twin Tub Twin It may sound hushed, but this was an absolute riot live.

Monkey Swallows the Universe: Apart from being mildly threatened by a not very intimidating looking fellow as I tried to squeeze into a packed gig, this was just gorgeous. These guys may be largely unheard of but they had a big, big crowd and when they played Jimmy Down the Well there was a polite acoustic folk uproar. Everyone knew the words, everyone knew the songs. These guys play a rather lovely kind of music – personal storytelling and charming delivery. And in the most pastoral, lovely way imaginable, they kind of seem to rock. Amazing!
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Monkey Swallows the Universe – The Chicken Fat Waltz

Danielson: In their matching uniforms they looked a bit weird and, although I like some of the tracks’ I wasn’t that taken. The performance was good though, so if you’re even slightly a fan, get stuck in and see them live. I keep expecting to like this lot more though.
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Danielson – Ship the Majestic Suffix

David Thomas Broughton: A genuine revelation. One of the few people I saw this weekend that I knew absolutely not one tiny thing about, and he was bloody incredible. He is classic Fence Collective actually, sort of a cross between Art Pedro and The Magic Arm, and spends time setting up his loops and samples at the start of each track before letting it all loose and following the rabbit down the hole. His music is a kind of low-fi folky electronica, quite atmospheric and rather abstract as well. It’s rarely clear where the songs start and finish, and we ended up just clapping in the quiet bits because there had to be some way to show this chap some appreciation – he was completely and utterly mesmerising. I have ordered albums and there will be reviews approaching.
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David Thomas Broughton – Ambiguity

British Sea Power: They were bloody late but they were worth it. I heard a lot of criticism, mostly valid, of this set including accusations of self indulgence and and needless fannying around. Both are undoubtedly accurate. They ended with a completely insane twenty-minute wig-out that left my ears ringing until the following morning. But what they did do, which very few groups do these days, was blow my socks off with a blazing onslaught of indie fucking rock. They played well, and with passion and with rage and bile and spite. And they fucking blew us all to shit. And that was all I could take for the evening – just brilliant.
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British Sea Power – Carrion

Mrs Toad and myself went to Bestival on the Isle of Wight last year and, although we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, I must admit that this year I was after something a little smaller. There’s something rather uninspiring about bald fields covered in a sea of broken plastic cups and a two hour queue for warm beer. Once the truly abysmal Bestival lineup for 2007 was announced – Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Primal Scream? Have I gone back in time by ten years or something? – I decided that was it, I was looking for something smaller and far more friendly. Sod the bands, I just want a nice weekend.

Well I’d exchanged a few emails with Simon from End of the Road Records about The Young Republic, who are superb and recently signed to the label. I knew the label had formed from the End of the Road Festival so I thought it might be a good one to take a chance on. There wasn’t much in the lineup that I recognised, but what the hell – a festival full of smaller, less well known bands would be quite fun. And besides, Howe Gelb was on there, so that did it for me and I bought a couple of tickets.

That was something in the region of a month ago. Since then that lineup has just got better and better, as Simon has dropped one gem after another into the mix. This morning they announced Midlake and Yo La Tengo. I can’t believe it! Suddenly instead of just looking forward to this, I am excited as little boy.

Full line-up thus far (I’ve highlighted the ones I think are interesting and provided a few samples – although I haven’t used the little player this time as the javascript would slow the whole page down too much with this many links, sorry):

Alessi (music)
Archie Bronson Outfit
Architecture In Helsinki - Heart it Races
The Bees
Besnard Lakes – Cedric’s War
Brakes
The Broken Family Band
C. W. Stoneking
Charlie Parr
The Congregation
Dan Sartain
Darren Hayman
David Thomas Broughton
David Vandervelde
Devastations
Euros Childs
Findlay Brown
Fionn Regan
Herman Dune
Howe Gelb – Pontiac Slipstream
Hush the Many
Hyacinth House
Indigo Moss
James Yorkston – Someplace Simple
Jeffrey Lewis
Jim White
Joan As Police Woman
Johnny Flynn – Brown Trout Blues
Josh T Pearson
King Creosote – Missionary
Micah P Hinson – I Still Remember
Midlake – Van Occupanther
Misty’s Big Adventure
Monkey Swallows the Universe
My Brightest Diamond
Paris Motel - Entrez Dans la Salpetriere
Pete and the Pirates
Port O’Brien
Reigns
Richard Swift
Seasick Steve
Slow Club
Sons of Noel and Adrian
Stephanie Dosen – Vinalhaven Harbour
Sunny Day Sets Fire
Super Furry Animals
Telegrams
The Twilight Sad – And She Would Darken the Memory
Viking Moses
Woodpigeon – Home
Yo La Tengo – Tom Courtenay
The Young Republic – Your Heart Belongs in Tennessee

Now all Simon has to do is pull off some miracle of scheduling that allows me to see absolutely all these bands, as well as leaving some space for me to check out some of the new ones. Good luck, mate!