It’s time for the musical roundup for October, and it has been an autumnal belter. Music that has come my way by hook and crook includes the new album Honestly, This World from The Moth and the Mirror, the solo debut from ex De Rosa frontman Martin John Henry The Other Half of Everything and the excellently named Edinburgh School for the Deaf with their album New Youth Bible and there are samples of these albums below. There’s also tracks from The Bird and the Monkey, and solo material from everyone’s favourite Belle and Seb (surely); it’s only Stevie Jackson.
First off are The Moth and the Mirror who have been described elsewhere as an indie supergroup, which seems to me to be a bit of a contradiction in terms. You can find all about them by going to Olive Grove Records and make your own mind up. Yes there are well kent faces, and voices involved, but all I really care about is that they can do this. This is a live version of Honestly, This World:
Next are Edinburgh School for the Deaf and they make a lovely noise. Imagine Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound played through the Reid brothers equipment at slightly the wrong speed and you’ll begin to get the idea. This, in case you’re in any doubt, is a very good thing. Here they are with Memories of Wounds:
The Bird and the Monkey got in touch and said, ‘hello, we think you’ll like us’, and they were right. I’m always a sucker for interesting videos and they have plenty to accompany their songs which are a little psychedelic and a little electronic with something of the night about them. You can find a further selection by going to thebirdandthemonkey. For fellow spectacle fetishists the following clip is a delight. This is the track they call Moon Moth:
I saw Martin John Henry support The Seventeenth Century last year, a night where he showcased his new songs. Since then his album The Other Half of Everything has been the one I have been waiting for. Now it’s here and it does not disappoint. If you want to know what the man himself thinks about the tracks then have a look at this excellent interview with Peenko (see Peenko/Martin John Henry). Henry has a way with melody and lyrical twists which places him above many others who try this sort of thing. As a taster here is the first single Ribbon on a Bough:
Finally for the October selection here is a solo single from Stevie Jackson, taken from his brilliantly named album I Can’t Get No Stevie Jackson. You can read all about it, including all his forthcoming tour dates, by going to steviejackson. This is a terrific video for Feel the Morning, and it’s all you would expect, and just a little more:
I hope that gives you something to mull over on those cold november nights. Make mine a Horlicks.