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avalon-digest         Thursday, March 27 2008         Volume 12 : Number 368



                               Today's Subjects:
                               -----------------
  Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol                  [LeeSullivanart@aol.com]
  [AVALON] Re: Same Title Different Song     ["A. van Lammeren" <avl@dds.nl>]
  Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol                  [LeeSullivanart@aol.com]
  Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol                    [jocelynfiske@aol.com]
  Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol                  [LeeSullivanart@aol.com]
  Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol  [Terence OConnor <stranded22@btinternet]
  [AVALON] Real to reel cacophony  [Terence OConnor <stranded22@btinternet.c]

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Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:06:06 EDT
From: LeeSullivanart@aol.com
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol

Andy Mackay & the Metaphors Bristol Carling Academy 13/03/2008

London! Paris! New York! Thom Yorke! Rome! er . . . Loyang!


When Roxy last toured, I would catch myself halfway through a set  realising
that Ibd only really been looking at my hero Andy Mackay. It took
concentrated effort to drag myself away from the saxman to look at the rest of
the band.
I know this may be seen as aberrant by some of you guys, but frankly,  webre
all aberrant here. With the Metaphors, Mackay is the focal point of the  show,
and itbs a welcome feeling to be in the majority.

No publicity for a low-key series of warm-up dates is a guarantee that only
friends, family and hardcore devotees will witness the first steps of a new
project. So the Metaphors were assured of an attentive and sympathetic, albeit
modest, audience at Bristolbs Carling Academy.

Watching a sideman take centre-stage is extremely interesting. Over the
years Mackaybs stage persona has graduated from energetic but aloof
cyber-Valentino though Mao-rocker and latterly to the current bgrave but
approachable
lecturerb who is allowing himself a bit of a dance at an  end-of-year ball.
Dressed in a grey double-breasted suit and prominent picture  tie - featuring
a man
wearing a blue suit b he cuts an elegant figure still, and  the hair, which
once stopped London traffic, is tastefully overlong with  highlights now of
the
natural variety.

The pointed sideburns are back and an endearing new feature of his
stagecraft is to look reprovingly over the rims of his horn-rims at that
section  of
the audience b apparently required at all live events b nattering at the
bar.
He also needed them to program the wind-synth unit placed on a stand before
him  alongside several static microphones.

Itbs initially surprising that someone who has used clip-on and radio mics
throughout his career should restrict himself behind a barrier of hardware,
which also includes a Boss GT-9 guitar effects unit and various individual
effects pedals. Perhaps being the centre of attention has brought with it a
few
more jitters; there are a few unforced errors which, in a player of his
ability
  and musical discipline, can only be due to nerves. At one point, between
songs,  Mackay turned to harpist Julia Thornton and bit his knuckles in
mock-terror.

Small fluffs aside, the music and playing is pure Mackay. Itbs a great
relief to report that live, as on the studio recordings featured on the
MySpace
site, bLondon! Paris! New York! Rome!b is as haunting, reflective,
spacious and
  spaced-out as early Mackay-penned Roxy B-sides bThe Numbererb and bThe
Pride and  the Pain.b Much as I enjoy bEddie Riffb and bResolving
Contradictionsb
, I was  always a little regretful that the spookiness evident in the earlier
tracks was  smoothed out by increased production and playing techniques. The
new material is  far more an extension of early Roxy than I ever expected to
hear; I imagine that  Tim Allen, producer, guitarist and blaptop musicianb
is
in no small way  responsible for this, and if so, very good for him.

So to the setlist. The band walked on to the strains of Scott Walker. Left
to right: Hazel Mills on vocals and keys; a very fit-looking and slimline Paul
Thompson on a smaller kit than usual; the Emperor Himself; six-string
electric  and upright bassist Rob Childs; Julia Thornton on harp (also using a
GT-9)
and  indie-styled Tim Allen on bowed guitar and various electronics.

bLove is the Drugb opens, with a really lovely four-note repeated phrase
on
piano echoing the sax stabs of the original but with a more melancholy feel
b
  this troll down town is rather along the lines of bset bem up Joeb
limbo
rather  than disco limbo. Therebs a nice tension between the pitch-shifted
sax
and the  classical sound of the harp.

Romebs Trevi Fountain is the next stop. bThree Coins in the Fountainb
starts with pounding grungy guitar married to leaping oboe before a harp
segues  to
soprano sax, introducing the songbs refrain.

Mackay steps out from behind his Mobile Control to announce the forthcoming
albumbs title and to introduce the next track from the 1960s: bAll
Tomorrowbs
  Parties.b Hazel Millsb vocal echoes Nico very neatly, though shebs got
a
lot  more living to do to get the ravaged beauty down pat. Her sensitive piano
playing is exemplary throughout the evening and Mackaybs tenor solo reminds
you  how bloody good he is as a rocker.

Gentle piano and a return to oboe for the intro to bI Love Parisb b or
it
would be if the reed worked. Oboe reeds are notoriously tricky; Mackay gives
up
  and moves on to gentle tenor sax, accompanied by bBookroom Boys/Twin
Peaksb
- -style guitar from Allen. The reflective playing gives way to some
gut-wrenching classic atonal Mackay bsquonkingb for a doom-laden crescendo
before
falling back to the hopeful piano resolution.

A swirling bForbidden Planetb sci-fi intro from Allen and a knowing smile
from Mackay (now with a replaced oboe reed) lead into the wonderful bThe
Pride
and the Pain.b Although this may not feature on the album, itbs certainly
the  keynote of the night for me. I never, ever, thought Ibd see this
performed
live;  and no matter how good the new tracks are, on a purely emotional level
nothing  could touch this piece. So many memories and an almost tangible sense
of when  and where I first heard it. Although I know itbs an homage to Sword
& Sandal  and historical epic movie themes and is A Joke; I didnbt realise
this at the  time and itbs always been a very evocative theme to a movie I
just
never saw.  Live, the vocalisations and guitar works are missing from the
climactic  middle-section; at the time I assumed that The Emperor Himself had
slightly lost  his place towards the end, listening again I think not, but it
definitely needs  a choral sample or something to fill out the piece. That
aside,
marvellous.  Worth travelling 140 miles just for that.

Ibm informed the next track is bClimbing Up the Wallsb by a band called
Radiohead who Ibm sure have a bright future. Hazel again takes the vocal,
but
the mix didnbt reveal much detail. Standing so far forward as an audience
member
  does mean that sometimes the PA is harder to hear, though the sax was clear
as a  bell.

bThe Loyang Tractor Factoryb from bResolving Contradictionsb is
jaunty; the
  second part of the tune is moved from oboe to harp, unfortunately, this was
again inaudible in the mix. Lots of Chinese percussion crashes from TGPT.

Another spoken introduction, this time for bElleb, which is thankfully not
another version of the Aznavour classic but a reworked version of bBluebell
Woodb from the bMusic for the Sensesb album. Harp, piano & alto sax are
underpinned by sampled mechanical sounds and electronica.

bTarab emerges, this time trading passages with Thorntonbs harp and
Allenbs
  eBow guitar and remains its usual beautiful self.

Band intros (big cheer for bMr. Paul Thompsonb) precede bNew York, New
Yorkb
, again using pitch-shifted sax and augmented with film soundtrack samples,
is very well played and a great upbeat counterpoint to the more thoughtful
tracks.

A deconstructed bWaterloo Sunsetb shimmers into existence before the
chimes
of Big Ben bring the main set to an end.

Calls for an encore are answered with some appreciative words from Mackay
and then Heather Mills goes Deutsche on bBitter Sweetb, which features
some
sensitive percussion from Thompson, who shows great care and skill throughout
the gig. We all know how good he is, but this gig is an extended insight into
how diverse he can be; really mature and measured and able to slip between
rock  and jazzy styles seamlessly, often within the same song.

The rbnbb (old style) standard bNight Trainb (variously recorded by
James
Brown, King Curtis, Oscar Peterson et al) is the closer; a nice tenor workout
of  a fairly unremarkable tune. It would have been great to hear bRide of
the
Valkyriesb or bWild Weekendb but maybe next time . . .

And I hope there is a next time. The album (assuming it becomes available
commercially) is, in my opinion, miles ahead of the output of the other Roxy
personnel over the past ten years in terms of experimentation and use of
contemporary production techniques. The Metaphors work is thoughtful; edgy yet
tuneful; what Mackay has called bUneasy Listeningb (and which would be a
great
alternative title for the album).

The Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea has at long last returned!


Lee  S


- ----- End forwarded message -----


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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:56:00 +0100
From: "A. van Lammeren" <avl@dds.nl>
Subject: [AVALON] Re: Same Title Different Song

roxyspider wrote, 22-3-2008:
> Just Like You              Three Days Grace

Keb'Mo with the same title.



- --
Mal:  We're still flying.
Simon: That's not much.
Mal:  It's enough...


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Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 10:59:44 EDT
From: LeeSullivanart@aol.com
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol

sorry for all that apostrophes converted to musical notation stuff - if you  
want to read it without a codebook go to TGPT's forum here:
 
_http://pub17.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=1385772333&cpv=2_ 
(http://pub17.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=1385772333&cpv=2) 
 
Lee  S
____________________________________________
Easily distracted?  Displacement activity a problem?
Me too. Going to:

_www.leesullivan.co.uk_ (http://www.leesullivan.co.uk/) 

and

_www.roxymagic.co.uk_ (http://www.roxymagic.com/) 

won't help  either. 


___________________________________________________________________________
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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 11:23:29 -0400
From: jocelynfiske@aol.com
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol

Weird. I was just reading this on TGPT's site and was about to direct everyone to your brilliant review, and lo and behold up you pop.
How different to hear it from a musician's point of view - and don't take this the wrong way Lee, but I always think of you as an artist first and foremost?and then suddenly remember?what a great?schwonker you also are.
Did you not go armed with your Selmer hardware?(OK so I don't know a make of oboe), just waiting for the moment that the Emperor's reed would fail him? Is there an oboist in the house?
Did you and Ive not go complete in breastplate and helmets (stop it Ivor) and provide the missing 'this way, this way you dogs'?
And thanks for identifying which Night Train it was. I saw the set list and hadn't realised it was this old fave that I would start my fancy dress cocktail parties with in the '80's.
I totally agree with you about the darkness that Andy provides to the Roxy shades. I was really surprised by the tracks on Myspace and can't wait to hear them live. As for TPATP, I think I'll go with my own tape loop of whistling wind just to get in the mood.
Thanks for taking us there by proxy.

J??

- -----Original Message-----
From: LeeSullivanart@aol.com
To: avalon@smoe.org
Sent: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:06
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol




Andy Mackay & the Metaphors Bristol Carling Academy 13/03/2008

London! Paris! New York! Thom Yorke! Rome! er . . . Loyang!




________________________________________________________________________
AOL's new homepage has launched. Take a tour at http://info.aol.co.uk/homepage/ now.


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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:28:48 EDT
From: LeeSullivanart@aol.com
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol

In a message dated 26/03/2008 15:45:07 GMT Standard Time,  
jocelynfiske@aol.com writes:

How  different to hear it from a musician's point of view - and don't take 
this the  wrong way Lee, but I always think of you as an artist first and 
foremost?and  then suddenly remember?what a great?schwonker you also are.
Did you not go  armed with your Selmer hardware?(OK so I don't know a make of 
oboe), just  waiting for the moment that the Emperor's reed would fail him? 
Is there an  oboist in the house?
Did you and Ive not go complete in breastplate and  helmets (stop it Ivor) 
and provide the missing 'this way, this way you  dogs'?
And thanks for identifying which Night Train it  was.


Thanks - did some digging on iTunes and there it was. I feel a bit  naked 
without my Selmers at any gig I attend but for once I didn't miss them -  and I 
don't have an oboe - though now you mention it  . . . 
 
incidentally, three of the tracks are currently gone from the myspace site  
(LITD, NYNY & Elle).
 
yours
 
The  Great  Schwonker
____________________________________________


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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:49:18 +0000 (GMT)
From: Terence OConnor <stranded22@btinternet.com>
Subject: Re: [AVALON] Metaphors in Bristol

Hi Lee,
   
  Great review, really hope Andy takes his band of merry men & women on an extended jaunt to support the album.
   
  Just a thought on the arrangement of LITD, I remember about the time of Sirens release an interview (I think with Phil & Andy in the NME) that the original version of the song Andy brought to the sessions was much darker, not the upbeat one we all know. Perhaps you have heard the only Roxy song in it's unFerried state.
   
  Best Wishes
   
  Terry 'O'  

LeeSullivanart@aol.com wrote:
  sorry for all that apostrophes converted to musical notation stuff - if you 
want to read it without a codebook go to TGPT's forum here:

_http://pub17.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=1385772333&cpv=2_ 
(http://pub17.bravenet.com/forum/show.php?usernum=1385772333&cpv=2) 

Lee S
____________________________________________
Easily distracted? Displacement activity a problem?
Me too. Going to:

_www.leesullivan.co.uk_ (http://www.leesullivan.co.uk/) 

and

_www.roxymagic.co.uk_ (http://www.roxymagic.com/) 

won't help either. 


___________________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon


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------------------------------

Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 21:20:43 +0000 (GMT)
From: Terence OConnor <stranded22@btinternet.com>
Subject: [AVALON] Real to reel cacophony

For anyone with the technology, check this out on Ebay.     James / Bryan Ferry - WW1 Radio Show 2 reels Live


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End of avalon-digest V12 #368
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