Glenn Williams
MUSIC WRITER IN JAPAN
ALBUM
ROSALIE CUNNIGHAM
TO SHOOT ANOTHER DAY
Cherry Red
There used to be a time when bands and solo musicians didn’t play safe. In 1968 for example, The Beatles released their ‘White Album’ which alongside the Fab Fours’ radio friendly songs, had Country, Heavy Rock and experimental tracks. Also that year, The Turtles released an album called The Turtles Present The Battle Of The Bands, on which each track was supposedly by a different band with a different style. In the seventies and eighties, Queen, Kate Bush and Elvis Costello refused to be pigeonholed and of course, David Bowie was the master of them all, changing genres and his image as the world of fashion tried to keep up.
There’s nothing wrong with playing safe of course but if you do like albums that offer a whole new world of music, To Shoot Another Day, is the record for you. There are no boundaries here, only a constant to deliver great songs in Rosalie’s unique style and the lady herself has surpassed her previous releases in every way. Intriguing, captivating and engrossing, there isn’t a bad song on the album and just as you think you are getting a grip on it, Rosalie throws something else into the mix. Tempo changes, crescendos, songs that start somewhere and end up somewhere else and melodies that dip into and out of chord patterns like no other. Her vocals haunt you, taking you places you’ve never been before: many times, chillingly beautiful.
Not only has Rosalie’s songwriting taken a big step forward, so too have her recording techniques. Using her new home studio has given Rosalie and her partner, Rosco, the opportunity to experiment more, to take time to create sounds and this has, coupled with this batch of songs, has led to her best release to date. The production is something to behold in itself with clear separation on the instruments and a mix that jumps out of your hi-fi, demanding that you listen. It’s not over-produced either. Each sound adds something to the piece and although Limiters and Compressors were probably used, the music sounds neither limited nor compressed.
This album is non-disposable. Each song is inspired, both musically and lyrically. Together, they make an album that is greater than the sum of the parts but each song is also a small triumph. If you could imagine seeing new colour for the first time or tasting something like never before, that’s the kind of aural delight your ears have on the first listening. Rosalie may well have painted her first masterpiece and for what it’s worth, I haven’t been this enchanted by an album since Peter Gabriel’s debut in 1977.
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Track List
To Shoot Another Day
Timothy Martin's Conditioning School
Heavy Pencil
Good To Be Damned
In The Shade Of The Shadows
The Smut Peddler
Denim Eyes
Spook Racket
Stepped Out Of Time
The Premiere
Bonus tracks
Return Of The Ellington
Home
GIG
TV SMITH
SICK BAR, HATAGAYA, TOKYO
PIT BAR, OGIKUBO, TOKYO
14th and 23rd November 2024
The original UK Punk bands are treated with reverence in Japan. Sex Pistols, The Damned, The Clash, etc are talked about with admiration and respect and none more so than The Adverts. So much so, that their main man, TV Smith, can play a nine-show tour, up and down the country. Performing two different sets – an acoustic show based around his solo material and backed by Rough Kids from the USA, a full electric set of The Adverts songs – he entertained us with maturity acoustically and stripped away the years electrically. For the latter, just for a moment, it was like being back at the Marquee in ’78. Incidentally, Rough Kids also did their own slot and you really should see them. They would have made it big back in the good old days.
It's been said often that the mark of a good song is how well it works on an acoustic guitar and unsurprisingly, given his songwriting ability, every song performed in this set worked on an acoustic, including The Adverts numbers. The set covers a vast wave of his solo output over forty-odd years and the one thing that strikes you is how consistent his writing is. From the earliest to the latest, dotted throughout the set, he could have easily written them all yesterday or forty years ago. He sings with aplomb, thrashing his guitar for all it’s worth, every word audible and every strum equal across the strings. He often only says one sentence between the songs but you hang on every word as it’s always meaningful. What you get then is over twenty songs in a little over hour, an hour that entertains you and sends you away with new thoughts. TV Smith has become a singer/song writer of the highest order; this world needs him.
Also, in a different capacity, he is needed as the lead singer of The Adverts. The Pit Bar in Ogikubo was absolutely rammed when he took the stage and the fans, many of whom were not even born when The Adverts existed, lapped up every second of the show. One of the few from the bygone age who can still dress in Punk attire and look cool, TV Smith and the Rough Kids delivered the goods. Of course, his vocal delivery is more aggressive than the acoustic set as he sings with the same conviction and attitude he had in their heyday. That said, he’s not as off-handed as he used to be. It was expected of the Punk bands back then but now, he’s happy to be still performing these classics and it shows as he interacts with the audience and beams at their response to the next song. Then, after what was an exhausting hour on stage, he’s at the back of the hall within two minutes, talking, signing autographs and having a hundred photos taken. TV Smith, the man, was as genuine as they came back then and still is today.
11th November
Only One Flavour
No Time To Be 21
Replay
Best Of The Worst
I Delete
Walk Away
Expensive Being Poor
The Immortal Rich
Generation Y
Common Enemy
My String Will Snap
Handwriting
One Minute To Midnight
The Future Used To Be Better
Lord’s Prayer
The Lion And The Lamb
Gary Gilmour’s Eyes
Bored Teenagers
One Chord Wonders
Encore
Not In My Name
Perhaps The Good Times Are Back
23rd November
No Time To Be 21
Bored Teenagers
New Church
Television’s Over
My Place
Quickstep
Buried By The Machine
We Who Wait
Back From The Dead
On The Roof
Safety In Numbers
Drowning Men
Bombsite Boy
Great British Mistake
Gary Gilmour’s Eyes
One Chord Wonders
Encore
Newboys
Cast Of Thousands