KC Rules OK

In all the times I've seen King Creosote perform since 2005, no two shows have been remotely similar in repertoire or musical accompaniment. Over the years I've witnessed him play variously as part of a duo, a trio, a four piece, in a Fence Collective supergroup, with Jon Hopkins performing the whole of 'Diamond Mines' and, memorably, there was the occasion when he limped onto the stage on crutches and in a full leg plaster, accompanied only by a djembe player. This past Tuesday evening in Norwich saw KC, bizarrely, in glam-rock mode (glitter, make-up, the works), fronting a seven piece band and showcasing, almost exclusively, songs from his most recent LP proper, 'Astronaut Meets Appleman'. I emphasise proper because in addition to this official release, KC has also been responsible for a flurry of low key, limited edition LP's and CD's over the past 18 months, many of which were available on the merch stand and, frustratingly, none of which I could afford.

Musically, the gig was nigh-on impeccable. 'You Just Want', 7½ minutes on record, was extended to a dramatic 12 minutes, creating an atmospheric opening to the show, while the insistent 'Surface' brought the main set to a similarly intense conclusion. The highlight of the night for me though was a stunning performance of 'Betelgeuse', which knocked the original studio recording into a cocked hat - it really was spellbinding stuff. In fact my only minor quibble with the whole shebang would be the amount of time KC spent chatting to the audience in between each song. Don't get me wrong, his humourous banter has always been an integral and enjoyable part of every KC show I've seen, but on Tuesday it was off the scale. Had he curtailed his waffle just a little, he could have easily played an additional two or three songs.

Only during the encore did King Creosote venture away from 'Astronaut Meets Appleman' material, first delving back to 2014 for an airing of his own 'I'm A Great Believer In Threes', before concluding the evening with a terrific reading of 'Star of Hope', a reprisal of his cameo on Mairearad Green's recent LP, 'Summer Isles'.

Since We've Fallen Out

The new King Creosote LP, 'Astronaut Meets Appleman', is just hours away and has already garnered a clutch of favourable reviews from the music media. I posted 'You Just Want', the first taster from the album, over a month ago (here). I was getting excited then - imagine the state I'm in now. While 'Astronaut Meets Appleman' may be the official Domino Records follow-up to 2014's 'From Scotland With Love', Kenny has hardly been idle in the interim. 'From Scotland With Love' was actually one of three LP's he issued in 2014, the others, 'Loose Tea On His Wynd' and '3 On This Island', were both ridiculously limited editions and already change hands for big money on the interweb (I own neither, if anyone's feeling generous). 2015 was a slightly quieter year, with just one full length release, 'Småvulgär', limited again, though this time on CD only. In April this year KC issued 'King Creosote & The Queens of Brush County', a collaboration with female artists reinterpreting a selection of his songs and in May, 'The Bound Of The Red Deer', another collaboration, this time with Canadian musician Michael Johnston. The latter is an absolute must have and bucks the trend by remaining widely available to order. The standout tune for me from 'The Bound Of The Red Deer'  is an intense reworking of the already terrific 'Since We've Fallen Out', which originally appeared on the 2010 Burns Unit LP, 'Side Show'. Here it is, to listen only. Read more and buy the album here.

King Creosote and Michael Johnston - Since We've Fallen Out

Astronaut Meets Appleman

Time is a bit short for chatter at the moment, so enjoy 'You Just Want', the first taster from King Creosote's forthcoming LP, ‘Astronaut Meets Appleman’, due on September 2nd. This'll do for me.

The Aliens

Two gentlemen on a small boat out at sea. Chatting, reminiscing on old times. Perhaps they served together in the Second World War. So what year would that make this photo? Late 1960s? Early 1970s? What if I were to tell you that these men, if they are indeed the age they appear, were probably too old to have served in the First World War and that the start of World War Two was still 13 months in the future? The photo is scanned from a glass slide dated August 1938. A timeless image isn't it? I picked up around 150 glass slides at a car-boot sale last week, all housed in 4 long wooden boxes. I've only gone through a quarter of them so far, but the quality of the best is outstanding. More to come, I'm sure.

Gordon Anderson (brother of Kenny, a.k.a. King Creosote) was a founding member of The Beta Band, writing the magnificent 'Dry the Rain' from their debut EP, among others. Anderson left The Beta Band in 1997 after a period of ill health, going on to produce a series of wonderfully adventurous releases under the Lone Pigeon moniker. Following The Beta Band's demise in 2004, Anderson reunited with two former members, John Maclean and Robin Jones, to become The Aliens, who issued two fine albums, before dropping off the map in 2009. 'Boats', originally a stripped down, solo Lone Pigeon tune, was re-recorded by The Aliens to glorious effect and issued on LP number two, 'Luna'.

Version City #2

It's a brave man who takes on a Jeff Buckley song - step forward Kenny Anderson a.k.a. King Creosote who recorded this re-working of 'Grace' for 2005's 'Dream Brother' tribute LP to Jeff and Tim. Jeff was, of course, no stranger to the cover version, making 'Hallelujah' and 'Lilac Wine' his own on record, while taking on tunes by the likes of Dylan, MC5, Hank Williams, Led Zep, The Smiths and many more, on stage.