Filed under: news, trouser press | Tags: alan pedder, amy speace, basia bulat, bearsuit, beth gibbons, black mountain, chrissie hynde, dar williams, dolly parton, feist, joan baez, joanna newsom, juana molina, kathleen edwards, ladyfest manchester, leonard cohen, music, music news, news, penny broadhurst, portishead, sharon robinson, shawn colvin, stars, the bobby mcgees, the webb sisters, vile vile creatures
- Portishead in working-on-new-album shocker
- Juana Molina to release her fifth album in October
- Polaris Music Prize shortlisted nominees announced
- All-star tribute to Judy Collins out in August
- Leonard Cohen’s touring partner Sharon Robinson to release debut album
- Ladyfest Manchester 2008 fundraising compilation goes on sale
- Joanna Newsom and Feist immortalised in a children’s activity book
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Perhaps buoyed by the astonishingly positive reception afforded to their comeback album, Third, Portishead have reportedly begun working on a follow-up. Speaking to BBC 6Music, guitarist Adrian Utley said the band were already “getting a bit of a plan together,” adding that the limited touring behind Third was so that the band could focus on other projects and spend more time with their young families. His bandmate Geoff Barrow had already expressed a desire to write some new tunes in a blog posting in May; Beth Gibbons, as ever, has maintained a dignified silence on the matter.
Filed under: feature, interrupting yr broadcast | Tags: anjani, interview, leonard cohen, music, sharon robinson
interrupting yr broadcast: anjani thomas
What do you do when your manfriend heads off on a lengthy world tour, his first in 15 years, and leaves you behind? Well, if you’re a respected jazz musician in your own right and your lover is none other than Leonard Cohen, the incomparable elder statesman of both literature and song, you take yourself off to a cabin in Wyoming and write a new album. At least, that’s what Anjani Thomas has done.
The 48-year old Hawaiian first encountered Leonard in 1984 when producer John Lissauer hired her to sing backing vocals on what was to become one of the most revered (and most covered) songs in history, the enduring ‘Hallelujah’. Not a bad legacy on its own, you might think, but Leonard was so impressed with Anjani’s keyboard skills that she was invited to accompany him and Jennifer Warnes as they toured behind the song’s parent album, Various Positions. And still he kept coming back for more.
Filed under: feature, interrupting yr broadcast | Tags: alan pedder, interview, katy carr, madam, music, sukie smith
interrupting yr broadcast: madam
As far as the stories of how artists land their record deals go, the story behind the debut album from Sukie Smith (aka Madam) is both serendipitous and peculiarly normal. Intrigued by the arrival of a demo CD left accidentally blank, Reveal Records founder Tom Rose found his way to the Madam Myspace and found himself agog and going gaga for Sukie’s elegant songs. The rest, as they don’t say, is retrospection. Said album, In Case Of Emergency, hit the shops earlier this year and Wears The Trousers was keen to speak with its enigmatic creator.
With the briefest of biographies that simply extols the virtues of secrets and disguise, it took a little digging to discover that Madam is not Ms Smith’s first brush with fame. A trained actress, Sukie has graced a raft of such classic British televisual fare as ‘Casualty’, ‘Bergerac’, ‘The Bill’, ‘Peak Practice’, ‘Inspector Morse’ and, the jewel in any bit-part actresses crown, ‘EastEnders’! (More impressively, she even had a role in Nicolas Roeg’s creepy adaptation of Roald Dahl’s ‘The Witches’ – award a thousand kitsch points and crown her queen).
Filed under: news, where's the gigs | Tags: alan pedder, chrome hoof, clare and the reasons, dates, emilie autumn, gemma hayes, santogold, tour
Gemma Hayes has announced a very special show at London’s Union Chapel in early September as part of a 10-date jaunt around the country in support of her most recent album, The Hollow Of Morning. First, though, she’s putting in an appearance at Electric Picnic, Ireland’s premier summer festival, on August 31st. Hayes is always brilliant live, if patchy on record, so expect great things if you happen to find yourselves at any of these venues:
01/09 The Yard, Wexford
02/09 The Yard, Wexford
04/09 Fat Fox, Portsmouth
05/09 Marquee, Hertford
07/09 Arts Centre, Norwich
08/09 Union Chapel, London
09/09 Glee Club, Birmingham
10/09 Jericho Tavern, Oxford
12/09 Louisiana, Bristol
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The irresistible Santogold hits the festival trail next month, with an additional headline show at Koko in support of new single, ‘Lights Out’, released on August 4th through Lizard King/Atlantic. See her here:
19/08 Fringe Festival, Edinburgh
23/08 Carling Festival, Reading
24/08 Carling Festival, Leeds
29/08 Surfstock, Cornwall
20/08 Electric Picnic, Stradbally
31/08 Hydro Connect Festival, Argyll
03/09 Koko, London
05/09 Bestival, Isle Of Wight
06/09 Becks Fusion Festival, Manchester
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Also next month, Clare & The Reasons bring their gorgeous cinematic pop to the UK on a 15-date tour beginning at the Edinburge Fringe Festival and ending at the End Of The Road Festival in September.
25/08 Club Voltaire, Edinburgh
28/08 Café Drummonds, Aberdeen
29/08 Madhatters, Inverness
30/08 Hydro Connect Festial, Argyll
31/08 Fat Sams, Dundee
02/09 King Tuts, Glasgow
03/09 The Duchess, York
04/09 Night & Day, Manchester
05/09 Glee Club, Birmingham
06/09 Bodega Social Club, Nottingham
08/09 Arts Centre, Norwich
09/09 Borderline, London
10/09 Louisiana, Bristol
11/09 Bullington, Oxford
12/09 End Of The Road Festival, Dorset
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Relentless tourers Chrome Hoof have lined up a special performance at Dingwalls in Camden amidst a string of festival dates. Move your feet to some galactic funk here:
12/07 T In The Park, Kinross
13/07 Optimo Club, Glasgow
07/08 Dingwalls, London
08/08 At Home By The Sea Fest, Brighton
30/08 Offset Festival, Hainault Forest Country Park
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Theatrical misfit Emilie Autumn returns to the UK in October for a four-date tour in support of her latest book, ‘The Asylum For Wayward Victorian Girls’, due out in November. Indulge your gothic fantasies at the following venues:
02/10 Academy, Manchester
03/10 Barfly, Birmingham
04/10 The Marlboro, Ilfracombe
05/10 Islington Academy, London
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Alan Pedder
Filed under: feature, voice on the verge | Tags: alan pedder, interview, miranda barber, music
voice on the verge #8: miranda barber
If you missed last November’s brilliant Wears The Trousers showcase then, I’m sorry to say it, you missed a stellar performance from the delightful subject of today’s VOTV. Fresh from her victory in the inaugural Slice The Pie contest to identify the créme de la créme of the UK’s upcoming songwriters, Miranda was revelling in the knowledge that she had the £15,000 prize money stashed away so that she could finally make her album without having to pawn her soul to Lucifer. That album, Lips’ Decision, was finally released last week to critical acclaim. Her story is made all the sweeter by the fact that she was once told she would never sing again after being diagnosed with a paralysed vocal chord when she was 15 years old. We tracked down the globetrotting Australian and asked her nicely to complete our questionnaire. She said yes, and lots more besides…
