Moment of the night? That’ll be Sam Herring, doing what we just saw him do.
On a YouTube near you tomorrow. Already on Twitter. Good night.
What did you all think? Classic Later right there, or a catastrophic lack of - what does reader Matt call it below? Ah yes, stardust. Insufficiently stardusty, was it, or just the right amount of charisma for you?
Next week’s episode features the Manics, Jessie Ware and Ben Howard. Maybe not a classic one on paper, but as with tonight, it will doubtless go by in a blur. (“Who mentioned Blur? Are they on next week?”). A blur of frothing delight and fulminating displeasure. Possibly why it’s lasted for 45 series.
And Paul Adam liked the soul/blues replicant.
Peter Gray loved Future Islands’ terpsichorean invention.
Jordan Hearns was certainly satisfied by that little lot.
Still, for its mix of good and grot, Later is very much the Top Of The Pops de nos jours, no? We love watching it for the occasional delight and the odd grumble. Whatever, tonight’s episode went by at warp speed. Some of it was great, other stuff got me gnashing my teeth. But that’s why we love it, innit?
Jamie T to close, with Rabbit Hole. This is almost comically bad. Like Blur’s Parklife bludgeoned into submission by Sham 69, only not as good as that sounds. Hurry Up, Harry was pure sex and apocalypse next to this.
Chastity Brown, singing Colorado. She is so Jools-y, she could have come from a Jools-generator, a machine designed to create bluesy, soulful musicians. She’s a Later replicant, is what she is. I preferred Future Islands’ OTT, warped defilement or rampant exaggeration of soulfulness. This is so straight and sincere, it seems fake. Nobody seems to have made much of an effort with the dressing up this week, I have to say. Although saying that, I’m wearing my pyjamas.
Future Islands! Are they going to beat their Letterman performance for sheer barking intensity and wayward charisma? Let’s see. He’s certainly a mightily strange presence. As in: so normal and bloke-down-at-B&Q, it’s weird. He looks like Hugo Burnham, the drummer with Gang Of Four. Like I say, an unlikely frontman and gaze-magnet. Holy Jesu’, what was that? That was him, doing his impression of Tom Waits out-bellowing Beefheart. He’s certainly one of the few performers to make a pink shirt with a button-down collar work. And the audience whoops *that* dance manoeuvre. Fantastic.
Bev Knight! Just saw her on Sunday night at a bonkers Audience With Quincy Jones. She was probably the best thing about it. She’s chatting to Jools and he just used what must be his favourite all-time musical phrase: “The birth of rock’n’roll.” He must have that sentence framed and hanging over his bed. Apparently, our Bev is in a musical. She went to Memphis to learn the accent for it. She’s from Brum, the birthplace of rock’n’roll. Well, metal anyway. They should do Black Sabbath: The Musical.
He certainly didn’t spend the last eight years on his image.
Time for Damien Jurado, sorry, Rice. Hey, this is lovely. No, seriously. I normally hate this kind of thing, but the combination of that voice with those strings is wonderful. He’s a walking cliche, an amalgam of sensitive signifiers, from the way he stands to the shirt on his back, but this is great. Jeff Buckley lite? Maybe. Still like it, though, possibly more for the string arrangement than the song, but hey.
Gorgon City and MNEK doing Ready For Your Love. The soulful house hit it’s okay to rinse when you’ve played Latch to death. MNEK is Mr Ubiquitous right now, which is a cue for me to blow that trumpet over there because I predicted riches and stardom for him yonks ago. “Could be the next big urban pop boy,” I said. Actually, that was my editor, but don’t tell anyone.
Ali Campbell doing I Want You with two ex-UB40-ers, which is nice, not to say a tad unexpected. Weren’t they all at loggerheads up till very recently? Him and his brother still are? They make Noel and Liam look like Ron and Russell (Sparks). This gives old meaning to the phrase “reggae lilt”. I Want You - not the Marvin Gaye one. Luckily, because that would have been a hanging offence. Murder by mellifluous reggae MOR.
Jamie T is on, all denim and croaky authenticity. He’s a band. Who knew? They’re doing Zombie - not the Zombie, no, it’s not a modern dance. Let’s do the Zombie, that kind of thing. No, it’s a song from his latest album. It’s Billy Bragg minus the melodic filigree and production finesse. It’s built for busking, basically. I’d give him 20p on my way to the tube. What IS that ungainly wire dangling from his ears? Not cool.
It’s live - so no swearing please.
It starts!! Not with a bang but with a miniature train set and a teeny tiny Jools.
My money’s on MNEK/Gorgon and Future Islands being fabbest tonight. You?
While we’re waiting for the show to start, does anyone know why the long lay-off with Damien Rice? His last album was November 2006! That was - what - four wars ago?
And in other news: Man City are level with Roma, whereas Chelsea are trouncing Sporting Lisbon. Maybe not trouncing. Lightly dominating.
MNEK is looking forward to the make up.
Future Islands are made up to be making their UK TV debut.
Andy Holloway! is so thrilled! his very Twitter handle! has an exclamation mark!
He’s looking forward to Jamie T.
Tonight is a veritable smorgasbord of not-quite-as-stellar-as-week-one’s performers. Starring:-
- Jamie T! Who I am going to strenuously avoid calling the one-man Arctic Monkey or mockney Mike Skinner. He’s back after a five-year absence with his third LP Carry on the Grudge, “with the old urgency and a new maturity”, it says here. I’ll be the judge of that. Pass my wig and gown.
- Al Campbell! Who was the frontman with UB40 before falling out with several of the Brum reggae maestros, to coin a phrase. But now he’s back with original members Astro and Micky on new album Silhouette, which features “a mix of new songs and reggaefied versions of classics by the Beatles, Bob Dylan and the Chi-Lites”. A natty dread version of Have You Seen Her - what the world was waiting for.
- Gorgon City! If Disclosure are the Beatles of the new wave of garage/house, and Duke Dumont is the Dylan, they’re the... Hollies? Meet north London producers Kye ‘Foamo’ Gibbon and Matt ‘RackNRuin’ Robson-Scott, who tonight play their chart smash Ready for Your Love, featuring producer-performer MNEK, who is the... Marvin/Spector?
- Damien Rice! Who for the life of me I can’t tell apart from Paolo Nutini and all the other sensitive acoustic boys even though I’m sure they’re as different as Bowie and Bolan. Anyway, this sensitive acoustic boy is back after eight years away. Expect a song from his “much-anticipated” third album My Favourite Faded Fantasy. I added those apostrophes just so you know I know you know.
- Chastity Brown! The Minneapolis-based singer-songwriter has been dubbed by critics a “rocking and rolling encyclopaedia of roots music”. Sounds grim, but let’s not pre-judge (removes wig and gown).
- Future Islands! Will the Baltimore-based synthpop group beat their dazzling Letterman performance from earlier this year? Here is that performance, to jog your memory...
Hello, everyone
It’s week three - already, so soon - of the latest series of Later... I keep meaning to embed (technical term) the graphic (also, sort of) from Twitter (not so much) featuring the artists on the show but I always forget (another technical term, for “Don’t know how to do it”). But not this week. This week, I’ve remembered/worked out how to do it, so here it is.
