secret fireworks

This week I got a copy of The Nightsaver, David Kitt's latest album, and it's quality. It marks a return to the true lo-fi (even electro) sound that gained the Kittster such fame. Tracks like Learning How To Say Goodbye and It's Yours are great, while I simply cannot stop listening to Alone Like That.


With David, each album release can either be a huge disappointment or unexpectedly good. Square 1 and The Black And Red Notebook were pretty poor, yet Small Moments and The Big Romance were superb. Not Fade Away, I can take or leave. It's not a question of Kitt lacking talent as a songwriter but it's consistency and originality that is lacking from his albums sometimes. Every album has one or two show stopping tracks that I could listen to over and over again but to stand out in the genre that's not good enough.

However, The Nightsaver seems to be a moment of self-realisation for him. It's a consistent album that really delivers and fulfils the potential of the Kittster. There's no need to skip tracks on the album unlike, say, on Not Fade Away. The Nightsaver as a whole sounds beautiful with moments of electronic brilliance: I have to say, I'm in love with drum machines.

Below are three tracks: a gorgeous live version of "It's Yours", one of his first singles "You Know What I Wanna Know" and one of his many covers, "Me and My Love". (Sadly there aren't that many videos of live performances, but ah well.) Please ignore the eejit in the People's Republic of Cork t shirt as well: it just makes me thankful we've got such wonderful music presenters like Rigsy up in the North.

Hey faithful readers! I haven't uploaded the free album of the week this week due to a few unforseen circumstances, so apologies. However, we will have an interview from The Jane Bradfords, a feature on Driving By Night (with the interview below) , a wonderful piece of news hopefully and a feature on younger bands.

Enjoy!

(photo credit: Speed Demon Photos)


On Driving By Night's MySpace, one simple phrase grabs your attention immediately:

"2009 belongs to Driving By Night."

It's a pretty darn bold statement to make considering the number of top bands within the North that are ready to take the world by storm- but with a wonderful single released at the end of March and the debut album set to be released by Summer 2009, the future looks bright for DBN. I caught up with Terry Lavery from the band earlier this week to chat about the single, the impending album release and plans for 2009.



SF:The single “Promise In Youth” has just been released on Dental Records, and it’s a cracking tune- do you think it’s the best song you’ve written to this point?

TL: Personally I think "Promise In Youth" is a great song, and we're happy that so many people are loving it, but its not our best I would say. We have other great songs on the album which might surprise a few people. Listen out for "Put Me Down Slow" and "Bruce Waits" (named after Springsteen and Tom Waits, two influences on the band). Promise is doing a great job at grabbing people's attention and adding a bit of beef to the album. You'll definitely find a good mix of feeling in there with every track!

SF: Speaking of releases, the debut album’s scheduled to come out in Spring 2009- did you enjoy the whole process? And do you have a date set for the release?

TL: We're actually looking at end of Summer now for the release of the album so there isn't a date set as yet. We want to make sure that we give it the time and effort it deserves. It would also be great to get a bigger label to release it on, so we are pushing the tracks to industry at this stage so we can get organised for the release. It will be our first album and a very proud moment for us all, we'd like to make it really special!

The actual process from start to finish was long, enduring and pushed us to nearly break up. Thankfully that didn't happen! When we we're in studio, it was great, we had goals and stuck to them, outside of the studio we kept up with showcasing and playing good support shows. This helped us to keep a level head throughout the year, so that we never felt locked up like a studio band.

It probably took us close to a year to get it all together, but to watch it come together, the way we want it, was worth the wait. We are really excited about getting the songs out there and getting some real reactions from real fans.

SF:You’ve got a surprisingly strong fanbase within America- playing 3 showcases at SXSW 2008, supporting David Kitt in the Mercury Lounge in New York... were you surprised with the response you received?

TL:Yeah, we were definitely surprised with the reception we got while in America. It's like everything became real for us as a band and where we finally felt like a real band. We were on a tour, people were treating us like professionals, from the venues to the fans. While in New York, we got put up in a suite in a really fancy hotel, where all the acts from the festival we played all passed through at some stage of the night as we where holding the aftershow party in our suite.....we have some interesting pictures from that! At the shows, it seemed we didn't have enough merchandise, people couldnt get enough of our CDs, T-Shirts, whatever they could get their hands on really....especially Neal haha!

We're planning to get back to New York in Autumn for the CMJ showcase, there we will meet up with some of the labels and management that showed interest in us when we met at SXSW in Texas.

SF: Driving By Night have been playing a great deal over the past few years- can you pick out one particular gig as your favourite and why?

There have been a few great shows over the years, the Vital festival (we played the mainstage with Kings Of Leon), support to Keane and The Thrills at the Ulster Hall (probably the best venue in Belfast). Some of our single launches have been brilliant: we get great support from our local fans. Playing shows with between 500 and 3000 people watching is just unbelievable.
If I was to choose just 1, I think I would have to say maybe New York. It's been an ambition for all of us to travel with the band and to have that experience and be taken seriously, knowing we can do this again and on a bigger scale once the album is released.

SF: Finally, have you any plans for summer festivals this year? Will we see you at Glasgowbury or other events farther afield?

TL: We've nothing confirmed yet with festivals, our plans at the moment are to showcase in London with a possible tour of the UK just before the album is released. A support tour and then a headline tour when the album is out. I almost forgot, we just got a promoter in Germany! There are plans to spend a week or so there to tour with possible festivals, we are already getting airplay on a few of the cool indie radio stations. We'll have to bring our German phrasebook if we end up doing interviews there haha, you could only imagine our first talks with the promoter and their lawyer!

We'll have a DBN feature later during the week with some exclusive downloads. Cheers once again to Terry and the band.

(Alan Maguire www.livemusicpics.com all rights reserved)

And So I Watch You From Afar have taken their rightful place on the rock and roll throne in Norhern Ireland. Last night's concert was simply a sonic adventure (without the hedgehogs) that dropped the jaws of many and thrilled every single person within Mandela Hall. The lads are getting a fair bit of press but if we look at last night's performance they're probably the most underrated band in the UK. I put my neck on the line a couple of weeks ago and predicted that their debut album would be the best of 2009- on the release of the album I'm quite happy to say that I'm standing by that statement. It's been a long road to this point but for the hardest working band within NI they were always going to reach it.



It was a star studded cast from the first act to the last song in the encore. I've seen Pocket Billards a fair few times over the past two years and it's safe to say that their performance was the best I've seen- it's amazing what can happen with a decent venue and a bigger crowd. Ska is sometimes seen by the music press as a pejorative term- playing the same rhythm over and over again and little innovation. However, it's not the case with PB: Chris Savage and the guys seem to combine a wealth of different influences into a wonderful sound that's reminscent of The Toasters, Franz Ferdinand and even (God forbid) The Ordinary Boys. The songwriting is pretty good too: the lyrics are pretty relevant to modern living. Neil Hannon may be one of the best songwriters of the modern era, but's he's never written a song about spides. Indeed, the line "You're only 13, but you're already a da" would be perfect for a Divine Comedy song. The classics like Dirty Money and Big Mistake are wheeled out, sounding better than ever.

Adebisi Shank were, different, to say the least. You expect good things when a man in a red mask takes to the stage- you hope the band live up to the mystique. Their first two tracks weren't great but after that it seemed like a switch was flipped and the lads really shone. The light show was quality and Shank just seemed to be enjoying themselves on stage. If I could say one thing it would be that maybe the band relied a little bit too much on effects- I like the sound effects as much as the next man but it was a wee bit over the top at times. Having said that, there were some wonderful tunes played, including one with a quality solo that sounds like Baba O'Riley by the Who if Queens of the Stone Age covered it. (It's a weird concept to grasp that only makes sense after a few drinks, but hey.) I'd like to see these guys again in a smaller venue perhaps- they're really energetic on stage and the songwriting is tight but you just feel that they need a bit of polish to really do themselves justice.

The Lowly Knights took to the stage looking even hotter than ever. The music wasn't half bad either- it's maybe a little dodgy to start the set with your most well known song ("Devotion" in this case) but it was a top quality start to a professional set. The drums were a wee bit loud for my liking, slightly drowning out the vocals at times but overall it was just gorgeous. "You Can Tell A Man By How He Lifts His Hands" is one of the best songs I've heard in a long time- it's romantic, it's emotional, the lyrics are cute with the lovely vocals we know and love from the Knights. There's a lot of handclaps going on and the ladies sing the sweet harmonies from start to finish, it's just a joy to listen to. Considering the vast majority of the audience bought the ticket to see the main act it's nice to see a warm reception for a very different genre of music: talent is clear whatever your taste.

The lights dim for the final time tonight. We wonder how the hell they're going to kick things off- I don't think anyone was expecting "Start A War" by the National to bring the guys to the stage. Then, the band we all know and love. "Set Guitars To Kill" begins with that distinctive marching beat and one of the most wonderful lights shows I've seen in a while. Snow Patrol at the Odyssey went overboard but it's amazing what you can do with a few lights. It really is a sonic adventure with guitars soaring and some excellent drumming- the finale to the track is just hell for leather. The break halfway through the song is very cute, as well- everything just stops, and the crowd shout out.

There's a massive cheer as Rory announces the next track, by far the most well known ASIWYFA song A Little Solidarity Goes A Long Way. It sounds much better live- the lead guitar is just so much louder and sticks out a hell of a lot more. At 3 and a half minutes it's also one of the shorter tracks played tonight- every track just overwhelms the senses and in a perfect world a small break would be nice between songs. A human being cannot handle just that much awesomeness in one go.

It's evident that the lads are loving every minute of it- there's clear chemistry on stage between the guys as they rattle off each track, aurally fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle. Apparently some guy called Michael quit his job just to be at the gig- the audience/mob mentality is clear as the entire Hall chants his name for a bit. It's not just about the music: it's a celebration, a party and a chance for a success story to be given their rightful plaudits.

ASIWFYA appeal to everybody, from the middle aged music lover to the hardened rocker. I see moshing at the front during These Riots Are Just The Beginning: I see one guy in the back literally standing slack jawed staring at the stage, I see a couple of thirtysomethings in the back tapping their feet and nodding to the music, and there's myself, dancing like an idiot. Tracks like Don't Waste Time Doing Things You Hate unite everyone: it's not simply a song but a true symphony with various distinct movements that stun everyone. It's a lovely thing that the support acts sing the vocal parts to the track, aided only by the more than willing audience. We're not exactly the Belfast Halian Battalion, but we do the job.

The standout track for me had to be The Voiceless. It's a masterpiece with a superb bassline, building up and building up before going a bit mental on it, calming down then going for the all important finale. The final song in the encore, Mount Kailash, feels like it goes on forever- we're nearly too tired from the wonderous music beforehand to carry on. However, it's a superb end to a wonderful night's music. I don't think I've ever seen a band that good live.

Thanks to the lovely people at Shazam Music, I've got a small treat in store. I've got CDs to give away-

Dear Loney's album Dear John,

Hatcham Social's quality CD You Dig The Tunnel, I'll Hide The Soil

Handsome Furs' album Face Control

and the incredible And So I Watch You From Afar album.

All you have to do to win one of the CDs is to email me and try and sell me a band in less than 50 words. The more obscure, the better!

Everyone who emails in will be put into a draw and it will be one CD per winning entry. The competition is open to those within the UK only. Good luck! The closing date of entries is the 31st of April.