Issue 105 / November 2019

REVIEWS
Modern Nature (Stuart Moulding / @Oohshootstu)
Modern Nature
Harvest Sun @ Shipping Forecast – 18/9
In a time when it’s growing increasingly harder to connect
with the natural world, MODERN NATURE’s music provides a
fitting soundtrack for such escapism with their debut long player,
How To Live. The band’s identity is very much a sum of its parts,
featuring names from Ultimate Painting, Beak and Woods. As
you might expect, the resulting sound is cosmic, reclined and
altogether warming.
They take to the stage without drawing too much attention
to themselves The modestly decent turnout quickly edge forward
to fill any unused space and what follows is an explorative and
soul-soothing affair. Opener Bloom is an elegant introduction,
commencing the set with an atmospheric and solitary saxophone.
It’s clear from the off that these musicians are meant to be
together; they simply glue so well.
Jack Cooper’s voice has been key to the success of his many
past projects and things aren’t much different this time around.
There’s such an effortlessness behind the quartet as they
continue to dispatch How To Live in its entirety. Evidently the
record was built to flow, but also to retain a sense of freshness
and surprise. There’s a light and shade throughout the night, as
the band lull the crowd into their meandering jams before quickly
bringing the tempo up into new territory.
Theon Cross
Stepping Tiger @ Storyhouse – 06/10
Entering Chester’s Storyhouse to the unmistakable Nigerian
electro-funk of William Onyeabor, it’s clear Stepping Tiger have
something wilder in store than your average Sunday night at
the theatre. Bordered by bookcases with pink ambient lighting
riding the walls, the venue’s open-plan spread does have an air
of sophistication about it. Just over the shoulder of a guy carefully
buttering scones we spy Ben ‘Roman’ Haslett DJing, the man
bringing THEON CROSS and so much more to our walled city.
Incredibly tight from the off, REMY JUDE ENSEMBLE open
up and ease us in with a deep four-part harmony. Mellowing into
a blend of alt.jazz and hip hop, there’s shades of Tom Misch and
Loyle Carner in their sound. Occasionally they shift feel and a little
funk slips in, vocalist Amber Kuti and keys player Max O’Hara
being Galactic Funk Militia ex-recruits, after all.
The fluid interplay between Jude and Kuti on hook-heavy
standout Band Bak 2Geva quickly wins attendees over. Coming
Home then segues into Yes Music, where a smooth-tongued
Remy urges us to “thrust those shoulder blades when you hear
those stabs”. Dropping down to a Cinematic Orchestra-esque
bridge, Kuti’s melismatic scat inflections weave their way around
a tasteful lead guitar and Jude’s fired-up MCing.
Having made his name as one of the breakout talents of the
UK jazz scene, Theon Cross is known for bringing the almighty
There’s not much room for any dialogue between songs.
They take a breather halfway through the set which opens the
door for some discussion. “So we’re halfway through the album
now and this is the part where you flip it over,” says Jack Cooper,
jokingly. They continue into the track Nightmares, a track puts the
listener into a weird dream state if anything. It begins to verge on
peculiar just how calming and absorbing this experience begins
to become; there are big saxophone solos, wandering guitars and
hushed vocals that seem to soak into the crowd.
This band don’t look like they have joined forces with a
mission to flip the music world on its head. Instead, you get the
feeling that this is a more informal project constructed to satisfy
their own creativity. Despite exploring a vast landscape of psych
on the record and in the live environment, it’s hard to see this
project doing anything radical in the near future. Perhaps that
could eventually be seen as a limitation, but none of that really
matters tonight. This is a bunch of accomplished musicians who
are clearly comfortable in their own skin.
What we see tonight is a band confident enough to tackle
their ideas; they’ve got the history and experience to back up
their humble ambitions. As long as this group keep their hunger
to create then it looks like we’ll be gifted with some great material
in the coming years. And while it’s early doors for this particular
project, it already feels like Modern Nature are well on their way
to becoming a finished package.
Rhys Buchanan / @rhysbuchanan
bottom-end with Sons Of Kemet and guesting with Steam
Down. As soon as Cross and touring line-up Chelsea Carmichael
(saxophone), Patrick Boyle (drums) and Nikos Ziarkas (guitar)
take the stage, the audience shift forward, filing up the stairs and
mezzanine.
Veering wildly between improvised solo bursts and dub
bass lines, the versatility of the tuba in Cross’ hands is quite
astounding. You’ll normally see a tuba played sat down in an
orchestra; Cross performs spinning on a heel, teasing it from
gurgled drawl to blaring sustain. Coasting the outer fringes of
jazz, at times the songs appear formless, yet the quartet remain
violently in sync.
After a euphoric The Comet Is Coming-styled excursion, they
slip into a sleazy Latin/bossa swing, almost verging on spiritual
jazz climbs before settling into an afrobeat groove. Then after
goading Carmichael and Boyle into a lengthy improv spin-out,
Cross takes the mic and talks humbly about the importance of
self-belief when writing music, before powering through CIYA
and two encores.
Granted there will have been sweatier stops on the tour,
but for a damp Sunday evening in Chester tonight’s scenes are
simply unprecedented. Cross is undoubtedly at forefront of a
movement that’s no longer confined to London.
David Weir / @betweenseeds
The Good Life Experience
Hawarden Estate, Wales – 12/09-15/09
We live in unprecedented times. Politically, socially,
technologically, environmentally. However you skin your daily
existence, you face a cocktail of decisions, challenges and
dilemmas, the like of which our species has not seen before.
Faced with this cacophony of noise, two concepts become more
important than ever; escapism and the quest for new ideas.
And it figures that the two are closely related. In order to
shape new ideas, we first need to sidestep the daily treadmill, the
24-hour battle for our attention, the glare of those omnipresent
screens. We need to create environments for open minds,
expansive conversation and spaces to challenge our digital-norms.
We need to reset. God, we need to breathe.
With this in mind, THE GOOD LIFE EXPERIENCE embraces
both and it seems is expertly tuned to our times. A well whittled,
wonky, welly-clad, weird weekend of perpetual wellness that
implores its guests to slow down, take stock, learn crafts, cook,
care and commune.
I succumbed to the temptation to take to the open water at an
artist-led swimming session, followed by freeform poetry writing
around an open fire. In the wrong hands this could all be very
Nathan Barley, although under the tutelage of Vivienne Rickman-
Poole the reality is anything but. It is hugely uplifting, invigorating,
elating. I dive back in.
Once suitably de-compressed and unplugged, the festival’s
pinpoint curation manages to envelop its audience with wide
ranging and outlook-shaping conversations led by truly inspirational
subjects. Set within Hawarden Castle’s reading room, ANDREW
EVANS speaks with astonishing openness and humility about his
experience as a haemophiliac on the wrong end of the contaminated
blood scandal, currently the subject of a public enquiry. Listening
to Andrew recount his story – one that saw the wonder-drug he
self-injected as a five-year-old inadvertently leave him HIV positive
and almost dead as a result of AIDS by his late teens – is a deeply
moving experience. His subsequent fight for justice for all those
effected (taintedblood.info) goes on and his message here is simple:
keep fighting. Right on cue as I leave the reading room, I notice a
bookmark underfoot, inscribed simply: “ideas change things”.
JNR WILLIAMS’ crystal neo-soul marries clean lines and vocal
acrobatics with spades of individuality. I doubt he has played to an
audience containing such a high concentration of neckerchiefed
whippets before, but he leaves them (and their owners) aghast.
Come night time and we’re dancing the jive with the assembled
pre-schoolers at the vintage disco to Duffo’s take on Walk On The
Wild Side (our Georgia steals the show). It’s a fitting curtain call
to the weekend, an off-kilter take on conventional wisdom which
catches you off guard, that suggests another way.
The Good Life Experience is for the curious. I implore you to join
them in raising a glass of organic nettle ale, delving into the sound
of Welsh birdsong and leaving your preconceived conventions in the
car park. A slightly better version of yourself may well come out the
other side.
Craig G Pennington
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