beautiful film of crazy old times in australia, ripping up nature in old cars and surfing perfect waves at Lennox Head…
All I’ve Found (George Greenough) – Sea Movies from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.
Film by the legendary George Greenough
Ben Skinner, Fistral
Off to Leeds for work tomorrow. Made me think of the Sisters…
QPR sacked Neil Warnock today. Perhaps not surprising after no win in 9 games (8 in the league), but sad ‘cos he took us up in style and the board takeover didn’t come in time for him to make a real difference. And 19% win rate so far has got us to 17th in the table…
QPR win 19% of games under Warnock 2011-12
If my stats are right, to beat last year’s 30 point finish for Burnley (the lowest ever 18th place score), we need 14 points from the 18 games remaining. Can Mark Hughes - the man who took Fulham to 13 out of 15 draws at the end of last season – do it for us?
It’s chilly today, so get this breath of fresh wonky summer air in yer airs and warm yerselves up a bit.
And what’s more, it’s free!
You may have heard of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, and, um Manic Street Preachers – but how many other Welsh bands? Not this lot, I’d bet, that I came across on the interweb today. So much great music, showcased on S4C’s Welsh music show Bandit.
In particular, check out Dau Cefn’s Cariad – a gem of a pop song – and Chips a Ffa – the kind of rapping that Gruff Rhys has been exploring with Boom Bip and others.
Also, check out Mr Huw (what a name!) and Radio Luxembourg and of course the quite superb Race Horses to whet your appetite further.
British Sea Power have revitalised their Brighton party nights. Called ‘Krankenhaus’ and based at The Haunt, it features Race Horses themselves on 3 Feb. More info here.
In the meantime, when’s the next train to Cardiff??
100 unusual people filled the beautiful space at the Unitarian Church recently to see Euros Childs on his solo piano tour. Unusual because they’d heard of him. Despite releasing 7 albums since 2006 under his own name, and one as Jonny with Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub, he’s practically unknown outside the Welsh music scene. This is more surprising when you understand that Childs also made 11 albums with Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, firm Peel favourites and indie stalwarts, the first when he was only 16 years old.
Solo Piano is a clever way for a struggling artist to tour on the cheap. It also suits his most recent album, ‘Ends‘, which is based on piano and voice. Scruffy and gaunt, Childs seemed out of place at a grand piano in a 190-year old church modelled on the Temple of Theseus in Athens. Aware of this, he promised to avoid all swear-words as he opened with ‘Spin that girl around‘ and ‘Parent’s place‘ from ‘Ends’. These are typical of his solo material – gentle and looping, bitter and sweet tunes somewhere between folk and pop that stay in your head for days. And always with that voice – warm and care-worn like an old winter coat, with characteristic mid-word note changes.
The other thing Childs does unpredictability. Perhaps that’s inevitable when you’re also known for your past intake of psychedelics and love of Captain Beefheart and cheap experimental electronics. Then, after forgetting the words to Gorky’s fave ‘Poodle Rockin‘ three times – and only getting started with help from a fan in the audience who knew the words better than him – the piano strings gave way with a huge twang.
Breaking his promise not to swear with a loud ‘Christ!’, Childs panicked about what to do next. Solo piano ain’t much use without a piano. Realising there’s an old upright in the back room, the local Montessori nursery, everyone trooped through, Euros pulled the piano out, and we were treated to the remainder of the set unplugged.
Songs followed from throughout his solo career, drawing mainly from those sung in English, and it was a privilege to be sat four feet away while he played them. Horse Riding was a highlight – the closest Childs got to a Supergrass-style indiepop smash or, as he puts it ‘the one someone bought’. Other stand-outs included ‘How do you do‘, ‘Look at my boots‘, ‘Bore da‘ (‘good morning’ in Welsh), ‘Like this – then try this’ and ‘Circus time‘. All exposing the beauty and spark buried deep in the mundanity of daily life for the average punter. ‘Look at my boots, walking around. Look at my boots, you see them round in town. Don’t you wish your boots were as cool as me’. For the most bizarre encore I’ve ever witnessed, Childs walked 20 feet across the room during the applause, sipped some water, and walked back again.
So that’s Euros Childs: self-deprecating genius, mild-mannered piano breaker. Cooler than my boots and deserving of far greater recognition. Go tell the world, unusual people!
Unitarian Church, Brighton 17 December 2011
Published at Brighton Noise
