I've been a fan of cornelius for years now and I've been looking forward to this gig for months now. I really admire his creativity and quirkyness. I only recently found out that he's worked with Ryuichi Sakamoto as well; another of my favourite japanese artists.

The gig began with a synchronised light and instrumental introduction which involved some incredibly skillful timing from the band to sync with the projected video and lighting. A large white canvas hung from the ceiling obscuring the stage while images were projected onto it. The canvas dropped with surgical precision at the band kicked in with their first number.

Cornelius is a actually a solo electronic artist, but having a rock band background from his earlier years he decided to recruit the help of the rhythm section of another japanese band called Araki to augment the live performances. I remember thinking at the beginning of the gig how powerful and big the drum sound was and how brilliant the breakbeat playing was. The drummer was obscured from view by all the percussion in front of the kit. It wasn't until the drummer stepped out from behind the kit that I realised it was a cute little japanese girl! Her name is Yuko Araki and she has a few bands of her own.

Mr Keigo Oyamada, the creative power behind the cornelius pseudonym wore a bowler hat and the whole band wore what I can only describe as a school uniform. They played in front of a huge screen projecting his music videos while the band played over them, hence the name 'the synchronised sensuous show'. All the music was played perfectly in time with the videos and lighting with perfect timing and precision, something only the japanese can do! Check out cornelius's videos on youtube. They are works of art in themselves. Brilliant, brilliant gig.

Posted at 01:49 in Gigs seen | Comments (0)

Willy Mason's new album 'If the ocean gets rough' has really grown on me recently. It has some great tunes such as 'save myself', 'if the ocean gets rough' and 'gotta keep walking'. This follow-up to his debut album 'Where the humans eat' in my opinion actually works better as a whole creative vision and has just the same number of potential singles like 'still a fly' and 'oxygen'.

He's one of those 'you-get-what-you-see' artists. Most album recordings are done in one or two takes, mistakes and all, and theres little processing done to the tracks in the mixing studio. So, as expected, at the gig you hear what you would hear on the album. There was nothing special in particular about the performance. The songs and 'mature-beyond-his-age' insightful lyrics really do speak for themselves. His rhythm section consists of his little brother on drums and a young trio of rhythm guitarist, bassist and violinist. One highlight was the violinist Nina Violet, who at the gig also played the guitar, sang BVs, played the flute and even sung two of her own songs herself!

Not a big spectacular gig. Just very very good songs, simply sung and played well.

Posted at 23:01 in Gigs seen | Comments (0)

Stephen Fretwell is one of my favourite singer/songwriters. His songs have a simple charm and his acute observations make for honest and straight forward lyrics that somehow work so well without having to resort to too many clever metaphors or imagery. The guitar/piano playing is of a similar style; simple, yet melodic and 'hooky'.

The venue was well suited to the music. Situated in Piccadilly, hidden away behind trees in a courtyard opposite the Royal Academy. The acoustics were brilliant and it was an interesting experience watching from the pews. He didn't sing many songs, and only a few were backed up by a couple of other musicians on bass and rhodes. Acoustic gigs are best kept simple, which is perfect for his style.

Posted at 23:31 in Gigs seen | Comments (0)