Pocket / Richard Jankovich - "5 Single EPs" CD Review (Compilation)

DOWNLOAD: Pocket featuring Steve Kilbey - "Hear in Noiseville"

Last year, Pocket (aka Richard Jankovich) started releasing a series of singles where he collaborated with a "dream list" of vocalists on the A-Side and introduced a breaking artist on the B-Side. Each of these singles also featured three remixes from a variety of electronic music producers. Pocket has compiled the A-Sides from the first five singles along with five of the remixes and three of the B-Sides and has released this compilation through iTunes as "5 Single EPs".

The disc kicks off with the track "Surround Him With Love" which features Robyn Hitchcock. Hitchcock steps away from his recent acoustic material and intones the chant "Surround Him With Love" over a slithering and oozing dance floor beat that leaves the song sounding like Shriekback at its prime. The second track, "Sampo", is a dream pop song where Asobi Seksu's Yuki Chikudate sings in Japanese while Pocket plays New Order style electro-pop instrumentals.

There are official videos (below) for Pocket's collaborations with Steve Kilbey and Dave Smalley. While the Steve Kilbey cut isn't that far removed from what The Church was doing in the 80's, the track with Dave Smalley is a pleasantly surprising industrial dance track that is closer to work by Ministry and/or Nitzer Ebb than Dag Nasty or Down by Law.





The last of the A-Side singles, "Someone to Run Away From" features Craig Wedren. This is a quirky pop tune that fits well alongside Shudder to Think's back-catalog. As an interesting aside, the Dave Smalley & Craig Wedren songs were originally released as each other's B-Sides.

While this disc includes a remix of each of the five A-Sides, these tracks aren't essential listening as they don't break any new ground. The three B-Sides are very strong though and introduced me to some artists that I wasn't previously familiar with - Shonali Bhowmilk (Tiger and Monkeys), Loraine Lelis (Moahogany/Somnambulants), Kimi Recor (Lilofee). Loriane Lelis' track is the strongest of the three and it comes across like a Camera Obscura/St. Etienne lost pop gem.

Pocket has continued to keep the singles coming and has recently collaborated with Tanya Donelly, Mark Burgess and Menomena's Danny Seim.

Links:
Pocket

More Syd Barrett Tribute Concerts Took Place in London This Past Weekend

From http://www.brain-damage.co.uk/

The Games for May concert, which took place at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on May 12th 1967, was one of the most significant concerts held by Pink Floyd. Described as a "Space age relaxation for the climax of spring - electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls and the Pink Floyd", the show has become one of the legendary events that many fans would love to have seen.

To mark the fortieth anniversary of the concert, a selection of musicians are recreating the concert in a pair of shows being held at the end of this month, at the venue which saw the original show.

The concert featured material from the band's debut album, "Piper At The Gates Of Dawn" (which came out later that year) and was a ground-breaking multi-media event. With a primitive yet revolutionary sound mixer, quadraphonic sound was used to wow an audience whose senses were already being assaulted by a light show, taped effects, on-stage carpentry, the distribution of hundreds of daffodils (which were trodden into the carpets) and bubbles filling the air (and stained the upholstery!).

Nick Mason once said of the concert: "I think Games for May was one of the most significant shows we ever performed".

Acknowledging this significance, a selection of "special guest artists" will be recreating the show on May 26th and May 27th, at 7:30pm each evening. The first night features Robyn Hitchcock and Graham Coxon, and the second, The Melvins.

Here is the set list for the show on the 26th and a list of the musicians who performed:

Mathilda Mother
Flaming
The Scarecrow
Jugband Blues
See Emily Play
Bike
Arnold Layne
Candy And A Currant Bun
Pow R Toc H
Interstellar Overdrive
Terrapin
Love You
Late Night
Long Gone
If It's In You
(Wouldn't You Miss Me) Dark Globe
Dominoes
Wined and Dined
Reaction in G
Astronomy Domine
Lucifer Sam
See Emily Play

Robyn Hitchcock - Guitar, Vocals
Kimberley Rew - Guitar
Paul Noble - Bass
Terry Edwards - Keyboards, Saxophone, Trumpet
Morris Windsor - Drums
Dan Woodgate - Drums
Graham Coxon - Guitar
Matthew Cullen - Guitar
Isobel Campbell - Cello

Robyn Hitchcock - Legal Music Downloads

I continue to be amazed at the high-quality legal downloads that I am finding on the net.

Here is a 25 minute show on which Robyn Hitchcock and the band appeared last November. The full band plays Adventure Rocketship and Ole! Tarantula live in the studio and Robyn gives a pretty interesting interview.

Here is a link to the WNYC page where you can download the podcast. I also ran across a series of live videos from Ole! Tarantula on RollingStone.com and here is a link to the page.

Robyn is playing with Venus 3 at the Knitting Factory on March 27th and 28th. Tickets are still available for both shows and are $25.00.