6 Music - Music News

A cross fertilisation of northern soul with east European heart brought the third installment of the BBC Electric Proms 2009 to a shimmering euphoric climax tonight with Doves and the London Bulgarian Choir.

Resplendent in traditional Bulgarian costume the choir brought elements of vocal percussion to some of Doves most loved tracks expanding the scope of the songs and adding another dimension to the Manchester band's rich layered sound.

Composer Avshalom Caspi, who was responsible for arranging the tracks for the 40 strong choir told 6 Music before the show that Doves and the Bulgarian choir are uniquely suited to a collaboration:

"The idea was great, but then we were not sure how it was going to sound... I started to experiment with recordings of Doves and the choir, to see if it can fit and it did.

"Doves music is very emotional, quite minor key and it fits very good with the east European emotional music " Caspi explained.

'Tingles'

Swooping between euphoria and melancholia, frontman Jimi told the crowd the choir were 'giving him tingles' before launching into 10:03 from Doves fourth album Kingdom of Rust which was given an epic dimension by the choir's chants and whoops.

Speaking to 6 Music during rehearsals Jimmi revealed that the inspiration for the show was the idea of using the human voice as an instrument: "John Cage or Steve Reich style", and they succeeded in their ambitions.

The Roundhouse audience - including Radiohead's Ed O'Brien - was mesmerised by the performance, and songs like Pounding, Black and White Town and Catch The Sun got them punching the air and singing every word back at the band.

Baluji Shrivastav joins Doves

Doves were also joined onstage by north Indian classical musician Baluji Shrivastav for the track Birds Flew Backwards which added another more delicate element to the mix. The unique phrasing techniques used by the choir perfectly enhanced Doves soaring post Dance melodies, creating real moments of transcendental beauty on tracks like Kingdom of Rust and The Last Broadcast, and on final track There Goes the Fear pushed the band's famous supersonic Samba wig out to a new zone.

Doves were determined to test their boundaries with this performance for the Electric Proms 2009, and at times during rehearsals both band and choir wondered whether they'd taken on too much of a challenge.

But tonight's show proved that this is a band that's never taken the quick easy road - the gestation period between albums sometimes frustrates their fans - but as with the records the results are always worth waiting for.

"We wanted this massive string section bigger than Mantovani and Manuel and The Music of the Mountains combined - but they said no, we can't have that. " 
 
Magazine - Howard Devoto and Dave Formula

Post punk legends Magazine delight

For a band whose tentacles extend to so many others - not least the Buzzcocks and Visage - it was a performance that underlined the huge part Magazine and its members played in crafting the post-punk landscape.

Magazine drew solely on the 1978-1980 period covering their first three, and most highly regarded albums, avoiding their ill-fated fourth album Magic, Murder and the Weather - which was recorded without late guitarist John McGeoch and released after Howard Devoto had quit the band.

Having opened with the iconic Shot by Both Sides, the pace didn’t let up, with Devoto opting for precious little banter between tracks. Other high points were definitely A Song From Under the Floorboards, covered in 2006 by avowed fan Morrissey, and the cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s funk standard Thank You.

Curiously The Book was reworked in the style of an unholy sermon conducted entirely in spoken word, complete with a lectern. Obviously Howard Devoto hasn’t lost his angular sense of humour.

Mega-fan Johnny Greenwood is said (by Thom Yorke no less) to have been asked to stand in for the late McGeoch, but was supposedly too shy. With former Luxuria guitarist Noko taking on that mantle, there was a nod to their many youthful fans with the inclusion of Rosalie from Ipso Facto for a duet on Sweetheart.

The band chose to reform was partly due to the rise of so many younger bands who’ve clearly been inspired by the angular post-punk sound that Magazine and their contemporaries Gang of Four helped establish. That lineage was made absolutely clear tonight, with Devoto and co sounding positively noughties.

Magazine set list:
Shot By Both Sides
Rhythm of Cruelty
A Song From Under The Floorboards
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)
Sweetheart Contract
Feed The Enemy
Give Me Everything
The Book
20 Years Ago
The Light Pours Out Of Me
I Love You, You Big Dummy

Florence's machine stripped down

More than any other artist in 2009, Florence Welsh has captured the imagination of the music loving public.

She’s emerged from the mass of forward-looking female artists, as the kind of genuinely singular and distinctive talents the like of which we haven’t witnessed for years. And you get the feeling that seeing her in a venue as intimate as the 220 capacity Freedom Room at the Camden Roundhouse was an experience that won’t be repeated, as she continues to conquer larger and larger venues across the country.

As befitted the maxim of the Electric Proms - to present unique performances - Florence eschewed the banks of percussion and keyboard that helped drive her recent festival shows, in favour of a stripped-down acoustic show featuring just drum, harp, guitar and a string quartet.

That's not to say this was a gentle performance, as Florence’s voice provided a whirling, soaring accompaniment to the elegant backing music.

What was most surprising about the set was not just the way Florence managed to utterly lose herself in the most fragile reworking of her songs (seeing her perform set highlight I'm Not Calling You A Liar almost feels intrusive - such is the passion with which she singe every line) but also just how well some of her more electronic tracks translate so well to the new acoustic interpretations.

Both Rabbit Heart and Candi Staton cover You Got The Love (songs that have been delivered on a near stadium rave scale during her recent tour) still sound immense without their techno backing.

It's only between songs that you remember that as a public performer, she's a mere two years old. Florence thanks the audience for their applause as if they're doing her a favour by being there, before gushing with enthusiasm like a teenager for the director of the New Music Short film commissioned for the event.

But all this only goes to endear her to the crowd. In fact at this stage in her career more self-confidence coupled with her talent might come over as off-putting or arrogant. But for now she just appears as genuine, unprepossessed and enjoying her opportunity to perform.

And we should be thankful we’ve had the chance to see her play at such quarters, for - as she prepared for her first UK tour - her journey onto bigger and bigger stages in utterly assured.

Florence & The Machine's set list was:
Between Two Lungs
My Boy Builds Coffins
Drumming Song
Hurricane Drunk
Cosmic Love
If I Had A Heart (cover version of a Fever Ray track)
I'm Not Calling You A Liar
Dog Days Are Over
Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
You Got The Love