Issue 74 / February 2017

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Bido Lito! February 2017 Reviews
The thing with The Lemon Twigs is, try to
resist as much as you can, but, harmonised
melodic pop, whether it leans heavily on the
music of Todd Rundgren, Big Star and their
peers from forty years gone, or not, still holds a
magic. The D’Addario brothers are an intriguing
and seductive combination. With pop music,
there doesn’t have to be a reason why it pulls
you in; it just does. And that is that.
Cath Bore / @cathbore
MICHAEL CHAPMAN
Nick Ellis
Mellowtone @ Philharmonic Music Room
An all too short set from NICK ELLIS kicks
things off, the Scouse troubadour bringing his
own brand of blues-soul musings on life, love
and light to a new audience with a natural
ease. A Grand Illusion, Lovers In July, and A
Walk Through The City, from Ellis’ new Daylight
Ghosts album, form the backbone of a set
that is rich in character, delivered with Ellis’s
trademark grace, poise and an understated
determination. With each performance he
grows, giving more of himself, and, as he
finishes with My Old Flame, the coup that
Mellowtone have pulled off with this most
perfect pairing of unique and individual
performers becomes clear.
The MICHAEL CHAPMAN fans who are packed
shoulder-to-shoulder in seated rows in the
Music Room, reflect this incredible artist’s 50-
year career in their spread of ages. Anticipating
greatness, they sit in reverent silence with
bated breath and widened eyes, as the opening
strokes of Chapman’s guitar start us on a
masterclass of acoustic blues that comes so
naturally from this instinctive and expressive
player.
Chapman’s part folk, part blues style of
intricately finger-picked melodies, dancing
up and down the neck, is as enigmatic and
evocative as his deep, dusty voice. And that
voice; tired, scratched and worn from decades
on the road, with lyrics part spoken, Lee
Hazlewood-style, over the hypnotic spell of his
guitar work. You can hear the dusts of time in
these tunings, these lilting and attractive riffs.
The simple, warm beauty of songs like The
Twisted Road, played here as the opener,
pulls us in and holds us close, each section
ringing out in the still of the Sunday night air.
Reflective, intimate and personal, it’s a lyric
that feels as though it was written for any one
of us. Maybe it was.
He is warm and personable as he recounts
his traveller’s tales and details his influences,
the places in his mind, and the people in his
mind’s eye, gracing us with stories of all those
years travelling all those roads. He introduces
us, in his Yorkshire drawl, to Caddo Lake, with
a story of a journey along the Louisiana/Texas
border in search of a town called Uncertain. He
pulled into some other dusty town to ask for
directions, but could only find one person to
ask. Predictably, he didn’t know. So, Chapman
sat down at the side of the lake and wrote.
The song itself, is a standalone testament to
Chapman’s innate skill, starting with a rhythmic
harmonic pattern played high up the neck,
before breaking into descending waves of
country blues picking. It’s a sound as high and
as wide as the Texan sky, and again, it comes
expertly presented by the stunning sound in
the Music Room. A most special Mellowtone
moment.
That Time Of Night, taken from the new
album 50, is another haunting highlight, a
lyrical picture of love and a simple fireside
country blues melody, painted over another
classic fluid Chapman six string serenade. The
gift in Michael Chapman’s writing is the real
sense of ease, the feeling that he doesn’t
have to try too hard. His vast body of work is
the very definition of instinctive and intuitive
musicianship, it is as though he can’t help
himself. For him, this is not second nature, it’s
just nature. This is simply what he’s always
been here for, he does it because he must.
As he finishes the set with another beautiful
picked-blues symphony, La Madrugada, from
his Americana 2 album, he explains that he’d
been told the title means “somewhere between
the darkness and the dawn” And in that one
description we find the perfect metaphor for
Michael Chapman’s music. The blue grey light
and the stillness of those moments before the
brightness of the day. In this music, we find and
we feel both sides of that moment.
Paul Fitzgerald / @NothingvilleM
PSYCHIC ILLS
Fuss – Dusst
Harvest Sun @ The Magnet
Magnet’s subterranean 60s stylings are
perfect for a triple bill of psych on a winter’s
night. First up (or down, this is the basement,
man), DUSST invite you to share their saucerful
of secrets. Happiness Is On The Horizon is the
obvious standout track, but none of their set
sags, and some of the numbers are surprisingly
short. The right length, perhaps, when many
bands would just recycle the chorus maybe
twice too often. Not so Dusst. Their taste of
the hippy dream gone sour isn’t a throwback,
it’s the sign of a refined palate.
Next up – and no, you didn’t hear that
correctly, theirs is a completely different