On 23rd January 2008 at 21:40 Dave LMS wrote...
I remember this gig. It was ace!
Black Nielson
Live at Brudenell Social Club on Thursday, 27th June 2002
Review featured with permission from www.whisperinandhollerin.com
EDIBLE FIVE FOOT SMITHS, denizens of the Adelphi in Hull were first on. Matt Psychotic (aka Thompson), looking like retro man in his seventies skinny jumper and shoulder length ringlets, does a bemused and hyperactive routine with our sympathies and mops up the early arrivals with eight genres per song. Reggae, punk, glam metal, folk whimsy - whatever. Every song bursts with ideas and impossible combinations. Everything falls apart at twenty second intervals, every time being pulled up and restarted with another crazy twist. Transitions? Hell no. Just stop for a bit - count "seven, eight, nine" - and start off at a completely different tempo. This is a great start to the night.
GALITZA are on next, with preview copies of their July release EP parachuted in half way through the evening. Stevie Gonzales (ex Landspeed Loungers) and Emma Bob III (ex Chest) share a passion for pulsingly fine music and laconic self-deprecating humour. You have to love them. Swapping or sharing the vocals and backed up with stylishly named suspects on either side they create waves of nimble riffs and great tunes. And they finish with "Rattle in Me" and "Stalker", two passionately fine songs from the EP "Laugh like a horse". They combine Emma's rich voice and the band's effortless sonic mastery. This is a very mature music, absorbing and transcending all that's best in everything from alt country to rip em up Velvet Underground garagery. They sound like GALITZA.
MAMA SCUBA are partners in crime on the vintage Leeds scene. Sharp as the creases on their pants, they charge through pumped up alto pop with fearsome control and suppressed passion. They flirt with the muso tag. The lead guitarist takes centre stage with a fixed scowl and says nor sings not a word. On a couple of ventures out into noise mongering close attention to the pulse and dynamic keeps the chaos well beyond the perimeter fence. Very much their own band with their own impeccable style, they are closer to Squeeze than Dark Star or Mogwai. But there are elements of all three in tonight's approach. The drumming is a joy. The crowd love it and the whole evening is just cooking up to a terrific climax.
(Edible 5ft Smiths / Galitza / Mama Scuba reviewed by Sam Saunders)
BLACK NIELSON slow the evening down. It's late. A few gaps have appeared in the audience. But this is no anticlimax. We've had the adrenaline rush of the climb and we're now cruising at high altitude. The band starts with "Oh Phantoms" the opener from their new EP, "Cyprus 2765" and we're then spoilt with a mix from the EP and their Album "Still Life Hear Me". This is crafted music played well. Keyboards provide a sweeping backdrop to guitars that sometimes rock but more often combine to create ethereal music. There's an epic quality to their sound; it's never less than interesting and sometimes quite beautiful. Comparisons are made between Black Nielson and Mercury Rev and The Flaming Lips. Add Sigur Ros to that list. Notwithstanding these comparisons, on the basis of their performance tonight Black Nielson are no poor relation to any band.
(Black Nielson reviewed by Ellie Dumpling)
