The venue for the gig was The Water Rats, Kings Cross, London. It was a mere £7 entry, which, considering the quality on offer (the Duke was supported by Thomas Truax) and the promise of a full band performance by the Duke, makes it practically free, as far as I'm concerned. A giveaway. And I doubt there'll be many more opportunities to experience him for so little.
OK, so what did/do/have I always liked about Duke Special?The show, of course. Music aside, momentarily, the Duke's show is amazing. The dreads, the eye-liner, the "unfeasibly wide trousers", egg whisks, percussive stumpfs, big bass drums, the gramaphone, the euphonium, the analogue radio, the hats, the velvet piano cover, post-show sing-alongs etc etc. It really is like nothing else I've ever seen.
His lyrics. They're honest, can be heart-warming, painful, melancholic, self-effacing. I tend to come away from his shows (this weeks being no exception) feeling more human, having identified with his faults, his pain, and his sense of beauty and hope.
His songs. He writes great songs. He has been compared to Rufus Wainright and Anthony and the Johnsons, and I think thats fair. They've got passion, energy, and everything from huge joyous orchestrations, to sparse, mournful sections, and a good bit in between. They're impossible to classify in terms of genre but he is commonly associated with Music Hall, whatever that is (comments welcome!) and early Tom Waits.
So there you go. Get the album (if you're lucky) on limited release 7" vinyl box-set, or on CD in the autumn sometime. Alternatively download four tunes from his myspace.
8 comments:
Pretty cool stuff. Found him on iTunes, so may buy the album tonight.
Something about the N. Irish accent that is both authentic, and yet slightly annoying. Possibly just because no-one at home sings like that, eh? Memories of hymns played and sang badly at church while growing up. Shudder.
PS: Have also just discovered a free version of Napster. OK, so Napster were bad, illegal (?) boys a few years ago, but they have a couple of legal sites/services now. On one you have to pay a subscription or pay per track, while on the other site music is freely available and paid for by ads. You can only listen to tracks a maximum of three times, but how fantastic!!! A free and easy way to find out if an album's actually worth buying!!
PPS: Duke Special is also on Napster
PPPS: Not sure if this is available outside the US - ah the benefits of living in the .... oh damn. You need to sign in to get more than one track, and I joined up in the UK, and the bloody system remembered. Alas, no free music for me.
I remember hearing about Duke Special... eye liner, dreads and velvet seem like a dangerous combination. Is this the same guy who has the extravagant album packaging?
I just bought the latest album by Casiotone for the Painfully Alone (called Etiquette). I think I like it. I know you've heard of it, or so you told me after I saw them in Kilburn.
I'm also listening to more classic country (Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline, Roy Orbison, The Kingston Trio, etc). Maybe it's being back in Texas, where every other radio station is either country or Tejano.
But actually while writing this I am listening to Belle and Sebastian. Classic. I love references to Marks and Spencer, etc. Makes me remember that I have a part of the UK somewhere inside.
P.S. Stephen, if you see this: you look so tan and California-ized! And great!
oh.
i just noticed your music links... INCLUDING casiotone and my dear friends the trapdoor band, who by the way just played an incredible show at The Peacock last sunday night in Austin.
oh.
i just noticed your music links... INCLUDING casiotone and my dear friends the trapdoor band, who by the way just played an incredible show at The Peacock last sunday night in Austin.
all of that is wonderful.
sorry.
hey! good to hear from you! yeah, i must check out the new ctftpa, thanks for the heads up.
What may I ask is Tejano?! A weird country/latino hybrid?
Let me know if the trapdoor band actually have anything available. I'd like to hear more.
Btw, check out myspace.com/starsofaviation to hear any schofields band, I saw them the other night and loved them. you would too. more indie pop in the tradition of B+S. Beautiful stuff. I wish I had the words to describe it.
Keep in touch,
ax
Am I tanned? I hadn't noticed ;-)
Post a Comment