A burnished mistake, (how it gleams in the night)

I’ve been really buzzing all week after a super evening at the Academy inBristol, one that left me grinning from ‘ere to ’ere, so to speak. Trouble is some of the lustre of an evening being entertained by the omnipotent White Denim has faded a little as the days have gone by…

White Denim

From the first thud-crash-wallop of their opening song, the boys from Austin barely paused for breath, thundering through most of “D” and a good few earlier songs, often with the briefest of pauses between songs. It was merciless at times.

The guitar work of leader Petralli and Austin Jenkins is obviously the White Denim trade mark – the frantic interplay and joint meandering was bewildering and exhilarating throughout, no rhythm guitar duties for either of them apparently – but what I hadn’t quite expected was what a tight band they are.

I don’t mean to be wilfully contrary and I know I’m going to sound a little like the complete muso I clearly am not when I say that it was the rhythm section that (almost) stole the show.

He’s not your classic rock figure (“chubby” is the word, really) but Steven Terebeki really impressed on bass. After watching the low-slung, over-exuberance of support band White Arrows’ be-hoodied bass player jumping about eagerly in our faces, it was refreshing to see a bassist who just wanted to play his instrument. He was imaginative, clever and vast and was matched by the brutal, whirring pace of drummer Joshua Block. Between them they created the shuffling, galumphing rhythms that really make White Denim so much more interesting than just a guitar band.

As a band they made one hell of a maniacal racket, leaving my ears ringing for most of the following day. I’m OK with that.

Sorry to be less than precise about the songs they did but to be honest although they played for over an hour, it was all a bit of a blur.. I do remember versions of Street Joy, Drug, Is and Is and Is and then my memory fails me. Perhaps predictably, my puny Zoom H1 recorder took a look at me and said “Seriously?” before packing in, so I have no souvenirs and nothing to publish but my less than 20-20 memories. Apologies for this…

Have a watch of this instead…

Lucky Seven 16 – Lloyd Brevett

(Hope this doesn’t seem a little opportunistic…)

Lloyd Brevett

Lloyd Brevett, legendary bassist of the legendary Skatalites, has died this weekend of a stroke, a fortnight after the murder of his son inJamaica. A tragic end to the life and career of one of the great figures of Jamaican music.

I’m not going to pretend I’m any sort of authority on Ska and Rocksteady, but there’s no mistaking the distinctive, playful tones of his “walking” string bass playing on all of the classic Skatalites songs and (such was their dominance of the Jamaican studios), most of the early ska classics of the era.

There are some decent obituaries, here, here (I like the quote from Bunny Wailer) and here; and an interesting interview with the man himself here.

I’d been meaning to resurrect my Lucky Seven thing for a while now; it’s a shame that it took the passing of the man to get me going. I’ve put together seven classy Brevett contributions for a special RIP Lucky Seven.

Lucky Seven 16 – Lloyd Brevett

Rock Steady –AltonEllis

Rudy, A Message to You – Dandy Livingstone

Dr Decker – the Skatalites

Corner Store – the Skatalites

Inez – LesterSterling/Tommy McCook

Lester’s Mood – the Skatalites

African Roots Dub – the Skatalites