You can attempt to sell pearls of wisdom, but if the surfaces are cracked, nobody's going to buy it. And like a natural brunette dyed blonde, eventually the streaks of sensibility can shine through, beyond the eyebrows. Lifting spirits and retinas in equal measure, this Thursday, are Big Night Out promotions. Presenting a three-artist medley, there is no fee on the door, everybody gets to say their piece in comfort of 30 minute spots, filled by DJ Natty Dread, and all donations to the raffle or palm are going to Children In Need. Kevin Jenkins, commencing the night, understands the dictum of forcibly altering one's consciousness with "Fucked Up Fairytale", articulating voice with mellifluous fluidity, and strums while rattling off metaphors like a bird cage on the move.
He's by trade a sound engineer, running SelectaSound Studio in Oxford, is Oxjam Oxford co-ordinator, and has been playing around the Oxford music scene for many years, in various bands and music projects, including Beta Spider (with Tim Goldsworthy) Blood Orange (solo experimental) Hot Flares (Party band) and newer project Cyberscribes. Renowned for his cover sets (the day from this he'll be in a pub somewhere in Oxfordshire), the set covets original material, his throaty tones crooning in obelisks between Bing Crosby and a more leftfield (think "Eternity") Robbie Williams, the direct attenuation of "I Want You" and "Burn For You" letting you know just where he's going for, touching the heart in a kaleidoscopic free-for-all.
"When a computer is on stage, all manner of strange things can happen" declares Big Night Out's forerunner. A rasping tractor-engine midrange would be one of those. Asked to do a mix, Sikorski get the juices flowing in fine style with their heavyweight electro noise. Sat behind computer screens, the show takes a fanciful turn when the group's vocalist steps into the limelight a la Landscape's "Einstein-A-Go-Go" to chat over an old-skool-rave-in-Ibiza atmosphere. It's never grating, there's no catch, and their and the crowd's boogieing ends all too soon.
Last, but by the standards of the ballads she brings, not least in any circumstance, is Jessie Grace. Her showing spans lullabies to lost souls on "Missing", calls to abort reprimanding for "Restore", a beguilingly beautiful delivery on "My Universe", and Portishead-in-a-beehive masquerading on "Spring Time". A great finish to a very impressive evening, despite the low numbers that yearned to be increased.
Kevin Jenkins: MySpace
Sikorski: MySpace
Jessie Grace: MySpace
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment