Hella Better Dancer @ The Camden Barfly

It’s not often that I tumble out of bed and roll straight to my laptop to give a shout out to a band I’ve just seen, but today I’ve been driven to it. Thanks a lot, Hella Better Dancer.

For anyone who knows about this impossibly good four-piece from North London, let me kill the elephant in the room; Hella Better Dancer are young. They’re sixth formers. This article is not a paean to a band who are quite good because they’re still young; Hella Better Dancer are good way beyond their years.

The equally young Camden Barfly crowd have already been warmed up by the readily charming folk stylings of O.Chapman (w/ Georgia Bruce) by the time HBD take the stage. Fifteen seconds in to their opener, ‘23’, it’s hard to figure out what to admire first; there is some serious talent on display. Frontwoman Tilly Scantlebury comes off as a ballsier Kate Nash without the stupid accent, while Josh Cohen’s extraordinary, imaginative basslines throb somewhere between Flea and Carlos D. Lead guitarist Soph Nathan adds the icing on the cake, schooling about 150 Camdenite wannabes with effortlessly cool jigsaw guitar licks. Baby-faced drummer Lucas Greenwood’s style, meanwhile, gives the impressions of a boy raised on a healthy diet of Foals and Maccabees.

The effect is phenomenal. Hella Better Dancer’s half-hour set is ridiculously tight. Seven mini-gems are rolled through with some panache; the Barfly sweatbox appreciates them accordingly. By the time the needling guitar of ‘The City Sea’ fades, the crowd are hopelessly amenable, and the scramble to buy their debut EP ‘Please Stay Here’ at the front begins. I only got it yesterday, and I still can’t wait for the next one.

Katie Melua - She cried for you.

So, I'm not one to obsess about the inane. Or maybe I am. Can anyone tell me? I also think obsess is the wrong word here so again, can anyonehelp me with the right one?

Basically. I am not a big fan of Katie Melua, although I could have sworn there was an H in her name somewhere, so for me to post this is a bit of a contradiction.

BUT

This song and video is pretty freakin good.

Watch it. If you can, try and listen to it at the same time. Failing that do the two separately. I had to do this. There is no shame in it. (Also try and forget everything else you know about her).

If you can get passed the fact that her USP is that she holds the world record for deepest/lowest gig ever (doesn't she look smug in that pic) or that she has a small obsession with bicycles then you will like this as much as I do. I also accept that I am being a touch irrational.

The song beautiful AND simple and without trying too hard it evokes fairly strong emotions. Admittedly, there are massively melancholic overtones. Yes. I appreciate you aren't going to dance around your front room or walk to work skipping while listening to this BUT there is definitely a serenity - a time and a place for this passive reality check. This IS one of those fragile, life is there to be lived, don't take your loved ones for granted kinda songs.

Why do I mention the video? Well. I am a bit of a simpleton or pleb or ignoramus (yeah I did just say ignoramus) when it comes to music videos BUT this touched me for all the same reasons the song itself did. Lemme know if you think I'm wrong.

Take it easy people.

James. Blake. (full stop)

So, I stumbled across a dude called James Blake (I don’t think he’s a tennis player). He makes music.

He’s some form of mix between melancholia (yeah, turns out that’s a word) and really smooth – like when you lick a cling filmed finger – bass. If you’ve heard of Antony Hergaty from Antony and the Johnsons you might also draw parallels there. I’ve been told by the internet that his music is dub, electronica, experimental. I prefer something with lo-fi in the description. There are definitely red moments for the equaliser BUT mainly you will take great joy in watching those little bars rumble and roll around the lower frequencies. PERSONALLY. I am MORE of a fan of his vocal stuff but he got skills so I give him times.

Checkout ‘I never learned to share’. That was my in. ‘Limit to your Love’ which is a cover of Feist’s original is sadly very good. Why sadly? Not sure. Maybe because of the song content being slightly truer as you get older. Maybe.

Sorry I’ve not been here for a while. I haven’t stopped writing/thinking/listening/opinioning but I either haven’t been publishing them or if I have they have been guerrilla posts as comments all over the shop… or in my head.

Listen to this dude. He is definitely a product of the last decade’s worth of music development.

PS. If this dude DOES turn out to be a tennis star then he is ONE. TALENTED. FELLA.

In a bit.