And then Big Al Carson. It was a free event, listed in the Jazz & Blues festival calendar so we thought we’d take a look - turned out to be a gospel church service, in effect, though it was great fun. The place was packed full and by then end everybody was in the spirit. Hurrah, eh. A rousing rendition of ‘When the Saints.. to finish. Is it compulsory at every gospel-esque concertgig?

We’ll be poking our toes around Warsaw in twelve days now. I’ll totally use Mogwai song titles for posts along the way - We’re No Here, Yes! I Am a Long Way From Home and A Cheery Wave From Stranded Youngsters are a few (though hopefully not the last, I suppose). Smooth connection: These are some great Mogwai sessions. Download My Father, My King and You Don’t Know Jesus if you only want a taster. I have no idea how long they’ll remain available. And go see them live if you get the chance; I can’t think of any band more intense.

This is pretty astonishing.

Saw the Esbjörn Svensson Trio on Sunday night at the Usher Hall, I hadn’t been quite so excited about a gig in a long time! After the brilliance of the show at the Barbican in 2005 I knew what to expect and I had that strange nervous chill that only gets you when you have your hopes up.

Support came from Chris Bow(the kind you take, not tie)den, and though the acoustics of the Usher Hall are supposed to be superb they really didn’t help his trio’s sound - it was cavernous, the drums too thin, the bass too light. They were good once they’d got started, especially when he soloed, though I prefer Polar Bear & Acoustic Ladyland’s approach to the whole ‘build an atonal lick into a fast-paced climax’ thing. Better in a smaller venue perhaps.

The sound seemed better for E.S.T., maybe they were just more careful about the balance between their instruments. Svensson spent the show either hunched over his keys or swallowed inside his piano, plucking strings and dissonance, bassist Dan Berglund was positioned to reflect a bright light from his scalp and drummer Magnus Öström’s sex face was just an added bonus.

Musically they were everything you might expect, opening with a wonderfully intense version of Tide of Trepidation, covering a good portion of their new album Tuesday Wonderland and closing with Dolores in a Shoestand (though a strangely reluctant audience refused to clap along). A long version of Definition of a Dog was maybe a bit extravagant, especially with the five, six minute white noise interlude, but that aside the show was practically spot on - melodically fantastic and rhythmically perfect. They really do their songs justice.

For me this was far more about reaffirming their brilliance; to have usurped their previous performances would have needed something out of this world. And of course, with some brand of Swedish efficiency, they managed it with honours. On a scale of Marmite to Marmalade it definitely ranks above crunchy Peanut Butter.

(She could have had it too.)

Regina Spektor at the Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow, 20/02/07

Regina Spektor might be one of the oddest creatures on the planet - angular, pale and toothy yet still bizarrely pretty. She can even get away with wearing Borat on her chest.

She came out and of course opened with Ain’t No Cover (or Eight Miles High, whichever) and of course it was amazing. The crowd were silent, almost reverently so and her voice seemed ever more powerful - she really belted the songs out .. Human of the Year was just .. wonderful and Baby Jesus was pure cheekiness cubed. Don’t think she could have whacked her piano stool any harder when she came to Poor Little Rich Boy <3

And then a backing band appeared. Suddenly the nuances and subtleties were gone, replaced with almost silly, formulaic pop songs. Character profiles were lost to guitar blasts and drum slams, her delicate piano playing was practically drowned out and those atonal inflections that make Regina Regina went with it. I wasn’t sure how she decided this band was a Good Thing .. the only songs that came to life were (necessarily!) Sailor Song, Hotel Song and Your Honour, yet it still wasn’t quite the same.

She played a couple of songs solo in the encore but by then the magic, for me at least, was gone. The crowd still adored her and Samson was a particular highlight. It’d be worth looking for a recording just for the strength and awesomeness of the three-fifths she played solo.

Alas Pound of Flesh, 20 Years of Snow and Uh-merica never appeared :`(. Maybe next time..

Saw ‘Trail of Dead at (the?) Oran Mor in Glasgow last night, the songs I knew, aka those on Source Tags & Codes, were almost spiritual, most of the others were rocking, a couple were plain and went on too long. Forget Cassettes supported, early PJ Harvey-esque in style with some very catchy hooks and great drops. .. They started their set with a repetitive, low dirge, gradually building in tension and climaxing in noise when the singer opened her mouth and .. woah .. the sound she made was horrible. And then she stopped shouting loud and the acoustics of the place started working or something, it sounded a lot better.

The same went for ‘Trail of Dead, it almost spoilt a few of the songs.

But anyway, on with the Maths that follows my life :/

The bass made me warm inside.

Smooth Russian connection:

Saw Regina Spektor at the Shepherds Bush Empire on the 23rd, she was fantastic. Her songs are full of bizarre scenarios and character profiles and odd happenings and everything fits together so perfectly it’s as if she made no effort at all in writing them.

Baby Jesus, Pound of Flesh and Eight Miles High are my new favourite songs, Baby Jesus is totally awesome for the matter of fact way she states ‘I could -honestly- say I was scared for my life‘ without sounding at all ridiculous .. take a listen - I uploaded a version she sang somewhere in Seattle on May 7th earlier this year, download it here.

She’s very pretty in a bizarre, angular way that doesn’t make complete sense.