The Juice ‘Contemporary Media E-Zine’

Charles Paxton May 10th, 2008

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admin May 9th, 2008

 You Are (Studio Session)

 Soleil Soleil (Studio Session)

Listen to the two songs above, then choose the song you prefer bellow. The song with the most votes will be provided as a free download to anybody who has signed up to Fiona Claytons Mailing List.

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Charles Paxton April 27th, 2008

   Rory Connor continued the tradition of combining live performance with fine dining on Friday, April 25, at Appleby’s trendy music cafe, Bojangles. This event, the third in a so far very exciting series organized by Eden’s new multimedia company PhasingHz, was also distinctive in several ways. First it was a chance to hear this up and coming acoustic indie-folk artist in the very convivial circumstances of Appleby’s award-winning music cafe. Secondly it was an opportunity to hear some new songs that will be included in Rory’s forthcoming album and furthermore it was the first time that we have seen a single artist performing here.

Rory was kind enough to provide our first five minute video interview before the event to explain who he is and to tell us about some of his music. Please, see the video below.

  Rory Connor at Cafe Bojangles, April 25, 2008

Five minute chat with Rory Connor before the show

It struck me after the event that it might not be a bad idea to properly introduce the acts to the audience just before the show, so that everybody knows who and what they’re listening to. I think it would make the experience a whole lot more meaningful and perhaps a bit less of a battle for attention for the performer.

This evening the musical soiree comprised nine songs divided roughly into two acts of about 20 minutes, ample opportunity for Alston’s increasingly famous singer/songwriter to demonstrate his characteristic vocal finesse and the kind of live performance aplomb that has earned him lavish praise in the music press, a growing following in the northwest and an ‘Ammy’ award for best live performer. I do admire singer-songwriters. Hearing someone do a really good cover is great in its own way and requires talent - but hearing original music direct from the author is like sipping a good wine in its very vineyard, or eating a slice of fine cheese overlooking Wensleydale.

This evening at Cafe Bojangles we were at the Rory Connor well-spring, and all the grandeur of the sweeping Pennines was condensed in the clear sparkling waters of acoustic indie folk that he outpoured for us. 

Rory opened well with a superb introductory song “Won’t Stay For Long”. Check out the video on this one, folks. Here Rory’s fine, soulful voice and skillful guitar work are very nicely demonstrated. Rory’s vocals are powerfully emotive, distinctively his own, but reminiscent of Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder.  Rory’s music is drawn from the depths of his passionate soul-well.

The crowd obviously enjoyed themselves thoroughly too and seemed to have a great deal to say to one another! Though it is very much up to the artist to engage the crowd, I would say that talking loudly all the way through a performance is disrespectful.

Rory performing his original composition ‘Won’t Stay For Long’ at Appleby’s hip venue, Cafe Bojangles.

Rory followed with Waiting, Butterfly, Secrets, Turn Round, She Looks Good in Yellow, For The Last Time, Half Full Glass and Falling From Trees to provide a very well rounded set. Keep a look out for that lass wearing yellow, because if she inspires music this good, she must be quite a looker!

For more on Rory including the latest news check out his myspace.

For more on Bojangles including reservations check their site.

Check here for more PhasingHz events. 

Don’t miss Jon Astral playing at Penrith’s No.15 on May 22 or playing at Bojangles next on May 30 with support from the excellent Ethan Thomas!

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admin April 21st, 2008

First of all, two apologies. Firstly I was late getting to the Players theatre this month so I missed the open slot, which by all accounts went well with 8 acts performing and all getting the appreciative applause of the audience. Secondly, the lateness of this review being published, as unforeseen circumstances conspired against me throughout the week.

Kirsty McGee took to the stage with bowler hat, Mat Martin and a large array of instruments that showed they were settling in for a good night of music and fun. Launching straight into “Lamb” with its foot-tapping melody and Mat wandering delicately through the song on Banjo had the PnP’ers on their side immediately. “Bliss” followed closely by “Killer Wasps” with its upbeat rhythm and impromptu wasp sounds from the audience, showed the skill and versatility of both Kirsty and Mat on differing instruments, allowing each other space to compliment the song without taking it over. The slow tango-esque “Dust Devils” got particular applause from the crowd as did “Bone Crusher” with the Banjo and Ukulele combination giving a fun, upbeat feel to the song. The variation of styles continued with “One Star”, a slow, almost hypnotic piece allowing Kirsty‘s vocals to reach every bit of the senses and draw you into the song. “Right Way Home” and a favourite of mine, “No Way to Treat a Friend” brought the session to a high and finishing of the first set with “Gunsore” had the crowd eagerly anticipating the second half.

The second half opened with the excellent “Sandman”, sung with feeling and sensitivity and reminding me of the old Torch Songs from the thirties. Changing the style immediately with “Alibi Blues” with its Yee-hah attitude showed how confident Kirsty and Mat are with their material. Generally people will stay with a theme for a few songs and then move to another style, however, Kirsty writes such good songs that I think whichever order you put them in, they would always blend well. A good example of this was the next song “Thank You”. A wonderful, melodic piece with excellent lyrics and sung with intense feeling and emotion making it for me the best song of the night. “Fresh Water” and “Sapho’s Lament” came next, with its great banjo solo from Mat. Beautifully sympathetic Banjo was also on the menu for the next song “Share Croppers” and the dual guitars played in “Coffee Coloured Strings” was very reminiscent of Suzanne Vega. “Plane Vapours” and “Faith” both had great applause from the audience as did the showpiece “Profit Song”. Raucously called back for an encore, Kirsty and Mat gave a fantastic A’capella song “Crow Pie” following up with “Betray My trust” had the crowd warmly applauding a fantastic night’s entertainment with some wonderful playing and singing. Kirsty has a wonderful soft voice which complements all of the songs she did tonight and thanks to the sterling efforts of Tom on sound, the balance of the different instruments remained excellent throughout the evening.

See you all on the 4th May for local rockers 3 Mile Smile doing their stuff both acoustic and amp’ed up. Check out the web site for further details www.plug-play.co.uk

Keep it live!!…Open Mike

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Charles Paxton April 8th, 2008

We received an email recently with a request that it should be shared. Here goes…

WARN YOUR WIVES/GIRLFRIENDS, MOTHERS AND
 DAUGHTERS

“Bottled water in your car can be very dangerous, woman!
 This is how Sheryl Crow got breast cancer. She was on the Ellen show and said this same exact thing. This has been identified as the most common cause of the high levels in breast cancer, especially in Australia.

A friend whose mother was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The Doctor told her: women should not drink bottled water that has been left in a car

The doctor said that the heat and the plastic of the bottle have certain chemicals that can lead to breast cancer. So please be careful and do not drink bottled water that has been left in a car, and, pass this on to all the women in your life. This information is the kind we need to be aware of and it just might save us!!!! The heat causes toxins from the plastic to leak into the water and they have found these toxins in breast tissue.

Do use a stainless steel Canteen or a glass bottle when you can!”

Forwarded by Misty F.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Thank you Misty, for forwarding this sound advice. Though it may not be possible to prove that Sheryl’s cancer came from a plastic bottle, it is nevertheless sensible to take precautions. The increased cancer risk may be due to oestrogen mimics leeching out of the plastic and these are suspected to be dangerous even in very, very small doses. Men should be just as concerned about biologically active plastics because they can suffer hormone related cancers that are equally horrific.

     Currently there’s no indication on plastic packaging that shows which plastics are biologically interactive and which are not, nor at which temperatures- therefore its probably safest to consider them all to be suspect until health and safety labeling states otherwise.

If you want to minimize the risk, it has been suggested that you should transfer food from plastic containers/packaging to ceramics or glass before micro-waving. Avoid polystyrene or styrofoam packaging, too. Avoid food canned with plastic coating and yes, avoid drinking warm water from plastic bottles.

Convenience may sometimes have dangerous consequences long term - even lethal ones.

For more on this see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor

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Charles Paxton March 31st, 2008

Chris James, versatile blues artist plays us some of his

“rough nasty blues with a touch of sophistication”

He followed this with Old Time Religion, a great song with fast tempo and at times his voice was very reminiscent of Elvis. So by now, we’d seen both his guitar play and vocals evincing considerable talent.

Finishing off with Irene, Goodnight, a song often used to terminate a musical evening, Chris quipped that we shouldn’t go home after this as Laura would be a tad disappointed.

I’ve never heard conversation die down so fast in a cafe live show. Laura James had us all hooked and rooted to our seats mid sound check! I’ve never heard a voice so sweet! She has the looks to go with her sound too - somewhere along the lines of Bridget Bardot and Raquel Welch in their respective primes. There’s not a trace of arrogance or hubris on stage or off either. In interview the hyper-talented seventeen year-old from Scotby, near Carlisle is delightfully easy-going and normal. On stage, however, she slips into the role of professional musician as you and I might pull on a sock. She enjoys live performance, especially in intimate venues and if she could have anybody of her choice present in her audience tonight, she’d want Leonardo DiCaprio to see her play. She particularly enjoyed playing in a Plug & Play event in London and at a flower festival in a church in Wreay. Laura James is already world class - she plans to apply to LIPA to complete her musical training.

Inspired by her love of the artist Klimt’s works, flowers and her father, music is fundamentally important to her life. “It’s the soundtrack to my life”, she explains, “I listen to it all the time, when I’m not playing it myself.” She’s been a musician for five years now, beginning at thirteen and her Dad’s immersion in music has been a powerful formative influence. She has also been influenced by Regina Spektor, Joni Mitchell, Bright eyes, John Martyn, Two Gallants, Damien Rice, Alison Krauss, Radiohead, bjork, Tegan & sara and Tracy Chapman.

Does she have a particular overarching style per se? “I don’t think so really,” she dodges my attempt to classify her music, “I try not to have a style. Each song speaks for itself and is a result of how I feel at the time.” Then she makes things tough for me and says, perhaps you can let me know what you think?” Hmmm. Perhaps it’s time for a good old fashioned opinion poll here folks.

Can you help me out, here. Check out the videos and let us know how you would describe Laura’s musical style. I’d say it’s emotive and in the popular vein with streaks of folk. She’s been likened to Alanis Morisette, Joni Mitchell, Michelle Branch and Lilly Allen She describes the ambience as hippy and that ties in with her love of floral motifs and flowers generally. Let us know what you think.

She writes her own songs, preferably in her old room as the light and ambience are conducive to the creative flow. “It takes time to write about what’s happened to me,” she continues, “as Wordsworth suggested, you don’t tend to write about something until you’re over it.”

At first the writing came very easily to her; her earlier songs were easier to write as she had a lot of thoughts and feelings just waiting to be expressed. Her later compositions took longer, perhaps also because the material had become more complex.

Laura performing ‘The Postman’

Here’s a superficial overview of her set. She played eight fabulous songs before the break and five after. The PA didn’t give much trouble until the last song - and then we witnessed something rather magical - Laura unplugged for a lucky number 13! There was something of a campfire atmosphere - very sweet, very hippy and very … Laura. Such a hush came over the audience that we could hear cutlery being sorted in the kitchen.

Kimmie and I were in complete agreement that Laura has the sweetest voice we’ve ever heard live.

In Circles she demonstrates great strength and flexibility with her notes - with fine control over her clear, strong voice; she has no difficulty with falsetto; her voice is soft, gentle but strong.

In All that I Ask her music demonstrates a maturity and thoughtfulness beyond that which you’d expect from her years; she shows wonderful control over her voice — with steady highs and solid lows.

The Postman has a faster tempo, with fast yodels, there’s a touch of country music here, also a reminder that there’s perhaps more in her lyrics than meets the eye.

She followed with Sunsets and tears (one of my favourites) and At the bottom of everything (a very fine Bright Eye cover) then returned to her own compositions with Do you know, one of the first she ever wrote; it sounds more pop-y, has a faster beat with a 90s sound.

Then she gave us a sweet cover of a cover, Such Great Heights by The Postal Service followed by Walk me Home, the first song she wrote, another effervescent poppy number that was reminiscent of Fiona Clayton.

The break positively buzzed with conversation about Laura - with compliments flying thick and fast. After the break we were treated to five more songs, What I Would Say is her most recent composition; a difficult one with “nonsense cords”, also her Mom’s favourite, with energizing, pulsing picking.

Then Give it all up which her best friends described as a “feel-good song” did just that, made us feel good.

For a change of mood we then heard This Town; about being stuck in a small town, before being picked up again in a superb cover of Fast Car by Tracy Chapman.

It was then that technical difficulties struck - the PA began to squawk as if it was picking up messages from Mars and Laura’s mother joked about an “Alien Invasion”. Chris Archer on sound, managed to subdue the little green men for a while, but eventually had to turn off the juice.

We then discovered that Laura sounded better without the speakers in her final song; unplugged it had more of a hippie feel, was more natural. The amps didn’t get in the way of her beautiful voice; the crowd were in awe. Some artists may need the aid of the amps, but thanks to a wee technical glitch Laura proved that she doesn’t.

‘God willing and the creek don’t rise’, there’s a very bright future ahead of Laura. She will play the dry stone stage at Solfest this year - and that would be reason enough to go there. She aims to study at LIPA in Liverpool for three years and then, if there’s any justice, the world will be her oyster.

You can buy some of her music on iTunes, see below, and watch her Myspace for her latest news.

Just in case you think that the PA was singled out by the Gremlins/ Martians, my video editing software has been behaving extremely strangely recentlybut now you can see the benefit of PhasingHz TV’s new Brightcove platform which gives us an outstanding clarity-to-speed of download ratio!

Enjoy!

Large Poster of Laura

Chris James links

http://www.fylde-folk-festival.com/artists/chris-james.html http://www.myspace.com/chrisjamesblues Laura James Myspace

Check this out

What I Would Say Laura James Release Date: 26 Jan 2007 Genre: Alternative ℗ 2007 Laura James

The next musical treat at Bojangles will be Rory Connor, Indie Music Awards 2008 nominee, on April 25th. Food served from 6 p.m., music starts at 8 p.m.

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Charles Paxton March 29th, 2008

This weekend’s elections in Zimbabwe may mark a crucial turning point in the country’s turbulent and unhappy history. We are fortunate to offer an insider’s look at the state of Zimbabwean politics at the moment. The intrepid Zimbabwean journalist, Paul Nyakazeya risks life and liberty to bring you this information. Here’s to a free, safe, prosperous and democratic future for Zimbabwe!    

 Zimblog

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admin March 21st, 2008

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Charles Paxton March 3rd, 2008

   Christopher Gibbs demonstrating a music workshop at QUOTE Music Festival 

The Cumberland and Westmorland On The Edge (CWOTE or QUOTE) Music  festival at Queen Katherine’s School on Saturday night (Feb. 24) was very well-conceived, organized, performed and attended celebration of rural community life. In all it was a five star multi-media event with a refreshing variety of performance: instrumental, singing, acting, video and even some live opinion poll social research to continue the never-ending story of rural community life. These elements came at us thick and fast in an efficient, aesthetically pleasant and intellectually stimulating rapid fire sequence of programming with no time-wasting in between. Martin Buck, technical specialist for MusicLinks skillfully set-up and manned the light and sound. Courtesy refreshments in the interval served to fortify the audience. One element followed another, eased along with cohesive instrumental segues. We learned from David Ashworth’s introductory speech that this show was part of a broader program of community-based self exploration, spanning 18 months, in which local people from representative rural communities recorded oral histories, filmed news articles and participated in multimedia workshops “to shed light on - and to celebrate - the lives and stories of people living locally in rural areas”, according to Andy Halsey, Director of  MusicLinks - the contemporary music strand of the Kendal based charity- The Westmorland Music Council. In the course of this community-based research “we have also attempted to shed some light on local history, contemporary issues, and attitudes with a view to creating a musical/multimedia/dramatic overview of daily life in the villages.” Amongst the representative villages that participated were Arnside Witherslack, Selside and Pennybridge. There was also an awesome orchestral performance of The Bobbin Mill suite in three movements by members of Queen Katherine’s School Music Group, an insight into a music workshop experience and excellent orchestrated, semi-improvised arrangements of two folk songs by The Westmorland Youth Orchestra. More about all these in the following account.   The hall was packed for the 7 p.m. kick-off, and that is always a gladdening sight. The large crowd were welcomed by a fine five-minute piano improvisation by the very gifted Christopher Gibbs, Lakeland composer who teaches piano and composition at Grange-over-sands and at Cartmel Music Centre. Then followed a projected sequence of old photographs with voice-overs transporting us mentally back to “the good old days” of yesteryear. I felt an unexpected pricking of fear and regret at my sense of the fragility of local cultural and historical knowledge as the show unfolded, if it weren’t for these local voices delivering local history to us now, how else would it be passed on? How many voices are now forever silenced and how much local knowledge has already been lost in so many rural communities? On this subject, the forthcoming Easter holidays may be a great time to talk with your folks about their old photos, an archivist at The Bowes Museum recently urged us to use a very soft pencil (6B) to write on the back of the pics, so if they get separated from the albums, names, dates and circumstances can be preserved. Seeing an old photo removed from its context is a bit like hearing a song in a foreign language, it’s stripped of much of its meaning.  The child members of Arnside Bright Sparks, (aged 6-11) treated us to a six-minute projected film in which we saw old pictures with explanations from the children and a song and dance titled ‘Stormy night’ that dealt with issues important to them such as flooding and the legend about a dragon in a castle and walks upon Arnside ‘Knott’. The dance was very ably choreographed by Pippa Coleman.    

Selside school members celebrating village life!  

Then a short and sweet piano overture from Chris Gibbs introduced Selside School’s superb dramatization titled The Painter of Magical Pictures. We greatly enjoyed the concept of changes in village life being viewed through the eyes of a soaring buzzard (a great idea for an overview of village life!) and a painter from the past who wakens in the present to paint three scenes from the past and three from the present, these enacted with enthusiasm and vigor by the children, accompanied by a song that they wrote for the project. It was very spirited and entertaining stuff! 

Eyes shining with the pleasure of public performance, a Selside student gives us a buzzard’s eye view of village life! 

Queen Katherine’s School orchestra performing The Bobbin Mill

If you have ever doubted the power of music to transport you, then you need to hear The Bobbin Mill as performed by Queen Katherine’s School orchestra. They played magnificently! In this dramatic, evocative and largely improvised suite (the second movement was inspired by a Cumbrian folk-song) we were whisked from our 21st Century circumstances back to the 19th Century to the old bobbin mill at Backbarrow, centre of working life for many people in times past. In three movements that convey distinct phases of the workers’ day, we are transported through space-time, first at misty dawn we are newly woken, groggy, with the other mill workers and greeted by the stirrings of the new day, then to a steady beat we trudge resigned, on foot, to a dull but necessary work greeted by a bell that inaugurates the work-day drudgery. Then the mood changes again to one of lively and purposeful activity as the third movement depicts the energetic, rhythmical, mechanical workings of the mill itself and its workers. In this delightfully animated section I envisioned slightly quirky engines (a la Heath-Robinson), I loved it. 

After generous refreshments we were returned to village issues, this time as represented by the Witherslack youth group Monkey Business in a preview of a film that will act as centre-piece for a full-blown performance in partnership with Dean Barwick Primary School to take place on March 14th, at Witherslack Village Hall. Here the importance of the village shop and post office as community heart was very poignantly emphasized.  

Where schools are concerned, does bigger mean better? Red cards answer in the negative.

To follow this, the audience were then led through an interesting live opinion poll by David Ashworth of Music Links. First the audience practiced displaying either a red or green card in response to several mathematical challenges. Green means ‘yes’ and red means ‘no’. Fortunately, as my hands were full of camera, I could hide my unfamiliarity with long division mental arithmetic. Then a series of questions on topics significant to rural community life were posed simultaneously, upon the projector and orally by David. It was very interesting to see the audience responding with enthusiasm and it was a valuable opportunity for local people, particularly children who aren’t used to being asked for an opinion on such matters, to express opinions on topics ranging from the need for a village Post Office/shop and pot hole repair to the re-legalization of fox hunting.   From my viewpoint beside the grand piano, the majority vote seemed to indicate a healthy preference for pot-hole repair on minor roads and for the retention of village Post Offices, a widespread belief that school size was no yardstick by which quality of education should be measured, and mixed feelings on the fox hunting issue, with red and green cards being waved with considerable conviction in some quarters whilst abstention was noticeable in others.  In response to the question, “Do you think it’s important to preserve local history?” the audience’s answer was an unequivocal sea of green cards. 

                    More support for rural public transport would be welcomed.

After the poll we were treated to a delightful musical drama performance from the Penny Bridge Sparks group. It was a totally charming exploration of nocturnal village life! The music was an original composition of rare quality by Alan Fitzgerald, a talented composer who works at Sandside Lodge and with special needs children. He took four of them with him to Mexico recently and he’s clearly doing much to open up and enrich their world. In this drama we saw emphasized the children’s natural connection with wildlife that is one of the joys of rural life.

Penny Bridge Bright Sparks children metamorphose into creatures of the night that dance to a hauntingly beautiful music. 

Kids camping against a beautiful painted backdrop gradually metamorphose into creatures of the night that dance to a hauntingly beautiful music. The music that accompanied this campfire-lit transmogrification reinforced the connection between the free imagination, young expression and the magic of nature. It was a powerfully moving production. Penny Bridge Bright Sparks group is supported by the school and meets on Saturdays from 1:00 -3:00 p.m. It costs £3.50 per session and newcomers are always welcome. 

Then we were offered a brief, but interesting insight into a music workshop experience with Chris Gibbs and some student volunteers. If there had been a bit more time, we would have seen him working his magic on some audience members too. That’s something we can look forward to at a later date perhaps. 

Mr. Gibbs and members of The Westmorland Youth Orchestra 

After that a