The Formative Years

Krautrock

What emerged in Western Germany the late 1960s as a deliberate, experimental departure from the tried and tested formula that was blues inspired rock music, took a while to really resonate with me as during my early teens what was presented to me as “kosmische Musik” by my music teacher could have not been farther from the immediate jolts I was looking to get from listening to punk and other forms of extreme music.

However, once I found access, the often improvised hypnotic, textured, repetitive ambient  rhythms courtesy of krautrock bands exerted a thrall that proved to be hard to resist. 

It was the odd melange of psychedelic and piston pumping Teutonic detachment that made krautrock an idiosyncratic and exciting style of music that was unlike anything else and thereby provided fertile ground for the development of art rock, electronic music and proto-punk.

Driven by what became known as the “motorik” 4/4 beat, bands like Can and Neu! took notes from avantgarde composers like Stockhausen, adapted rock standards from the like of Pink Floyd and the Beatles and fused them with concepts of jazz to venture away of conventional song structures into the unknown to create their own lanes.

The influence krautrock exerted served as a sheer endless source of inspiration for bands like Roxy Music, Hawkwind, David Bowie, Brian Eno, Cabaret Voltaire, new wave at large and through bands like Kraftwerk even on electronic dance music.

Looking back at the legacy of krautrock bands, I find the hugely influential sheer visionary potency of their depth and breadth astounding as it not only reverberates throughout current pop culture but has indirectly influenced almost every form of music.

It has become an inherent cornerstone and reference point of any classification-resistant spontaneous experimental musical endeavour, no matter the style of instrumentation.

If you have not yet been exposed to the genre, a treasure-trove of unearthly, crazed and genuinely experimental music awaits.

Alestorm, Gloryhammer, Bootyard Bandits

University Of East Anglia, Norwich UK

December 9, 2021

After a two year wait Scottish pirate metallers Alestorm are back on the circuit for an 11 date tour of Ireland and the UK. Along for the ride with them are symphonic power metal outfit Gloryhammer and the UK's "most wanted" country metal band Bootyard Bandits, stepping in for the originally billed melodic death/folk metal 4 piece from the US Aether Realm who unfortunately had to pull out. That is alot of different metal for one night but a concoction guaranteed to be a lot of fun!

Firstly, I must apologise to Worcester based Bootyard Bandits for my tardiness as due to the gig being on a Thursday night I was a bit pushed to get to the venue on time and so arrived halfway through their set. They certainly looked the part in their cowboy outfits complete with banjo and inflatable cactus stage props. They had a big stage presence and even though it was weird hearing them talk in their native English accents the crowd were really getting into it. They had a few sing along anthems with titles like "Hoedown Showdown" and "Let's Rodeo". Personally I did not get into the band as much as others as I am not a Country music fan and found the posturing, line dancing and weedy sounding banjo rather tiresome but fair play to them, they know how to get the crowd going and put on a lively show.

Next up were the fantastical Gloryhammer, a 5 piece symphonic power metal band that sing of great battles both past and future, stories of undead unicorn invasions and wizardry. A side project of Christopher Bowes (vocalist and keytarist in Alestorm) started in 2010, each band member has their own character, costume and backstory and are well known for their comedic and incredibly catchy songs. Right now however the band are currently attempting to bounce back from a bit of bad press. After their performance at Bloodstock festival in the UK this summer they parted ways with singer Thomas Winkler which came as a surprise to Winkler himself and caused quite a lot of outrage amongst the fans. Not only that but soon after this a string of private Whatsapp messages between the band members were leaked showing them in an unfavourable light, for which they have all since apologized. Their new singer, Cypriot born, Sozos Michael (Eons Enthroned/Harmonize) has very quickly picked up the hammer and raised it triumphantly aloft on his first appearance on tour with the band. This was my first time seeing Gloryhammer as I've only really got into their music in last couple of years, when I bought tickets for this tour Winkler was still on board so I was a bit gutted to hear of his sacking and that I would never get to see him perform with them but Sozos Michael has a very similar vocal style and range and I was very impressed with what I saw. In a short space of time the band have managed to rehearse and perfect a solid performance and great onstage banter as a band. Their set consisted of their most well known songs from "Hootsforce", "Masters Of The Galaxy" and "Universe On Fire" to "Gloryhammer", "The Unicorn Invasion Of Dundee" with a little rendition of "Legendary Enchanted Jetpack" thrown in for good measure. The response from the crowd was huge, it kind of felt like a double headline thing going on and there were certainly no bad feelings towards the band at all. They played an epic set and left the stage showing a united front. 

As the stage was cleared of Gloryhammer's gear the familiar sight of Alestorms giant inflatable duck was brought out and started inflating. Anticipation grew as the duck filled up for we knew that once fully inflated the band would hit the stage! Alestorm recorded their sixth studio album "Curse Of The Crystal Coconut" in 2019/20  just before the pandemic hit, releasing it in May 2020 whilst everyone was in lockdown. They had to cancel all the dates they had planned for the album tour so this is the first time they have been able to play their new material. Alestorm are a band of habit though and they always choose a great mix of songs spanning the majority of their back catalogue. Kicking off with familiar opener "Keel Hauled" flowing seamlessly into the new material, from "Curse Of The Crystal Coconut" they played the first single "Treasure Chest Party Quest" and continued with "Tortuga", "Zombies Ate My Pirate Ship", "Shit Boat (No Fans)" and "Pirate Metal Drinking Crew" interspersed with some old favourites such as "The Sunk'n Norwegian", "Captain Morgans Revenge", "Nancy The Tavern Wench", "1741 (The Battle Of Cartagena)" they even did their cover of "Hangover" and, of course, ending with their classic sing along "Fucked With An Anchor"! It is safe to say that Alestorm and Gloryhammer have been sorely missed by the British public as they both received a riotous response from the crowd and a great night was had by all. The band were on top form as usual and loving every minute of it. The sound was a bit muddy when Alestorm first came on but I get that trying to balance the sound of 2 keyboards along with the rest of the band in a large crowded room of very drunk people is a tricky business and they managed to sort out the sound issues very quickly. Bands like Alestorm and Gloryhammer are often discredited as gimmick bands which may be so but neither of these bands take themselves seriously at all and they really don't care what people think of them they are just here to put on a great show, play some metal and just have fun! Everybody needs a bit of these bands in their lives sometime and I for one cannot wait for them to come back! 

Gloryhammer:

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all photos by Sarah Jane

Anatomica: The Exquisite and Unsettling Art of Human Anatomy

Joanna Ebenstein

Laurence King Publishing / Hachette Group

Anatomy is a fascinating area, especially when it traverses into artful realms, which is not a stretch, given the complex interior and intricacies of our bodies that are designed to keep our vital functions intact. 

Now, as the title of this beautiful volume would suggest, this is not merely a medical book but one that would find itself perfectly placed on any coffee table.

Opulently illustrated and artfully printed, both the scientifically intrigued as well as the odd morbid enthusiast would be enthused with the curation of how the seemingly disgusting and repulsive is portrayed in the most beautiful and delicate manner and vice versa. 

Both terrifying and uncanny, Joanna Ebenstein plays with what our subconsciousness dreads and expertly walks the line that is the netherworld of anatomy via the portrayal of over three hundred depictions of what lays on the inside of our chassis, spanning a period of seven hundred years.

Well-annotated and backed by a medical editor, the recipient will not only gain insights into hidden facets of the human body but also how the perceptions, illustrations and representations have changed over time.

Meandering between the bizarre, the fascinating and the borderline mythical, the dissections of cadavers highlight how myths and teachings have been challenged from the fourteenth century onwards and how the study of anatomy has advanced over time to culminate in today’s Gray’s Anatomy.

From woodcuts via watercolour images to lithographs and engravings sourced from different continents, Anatomica offers much more than what meets the eye: As the historical component plays an integral role, it results in an illuminating read shedding light on major advances in the study of anatomy in a contextualised manner and one that will help with the understanding of one’s body in both pristine and decrepit condition.

The Formative Years

Tocotronic 

Founded in 1993 and signed by the genre pushing avantgarde label L’Age D’Or a year later, there are few bands that embodied what was labelled “Hamburger Schule” than Tocotronic, not just musically but also visually with their much copied idiosyncratic band uniform comprised of corduroy pants, thrift store shirts with advertising slogans and track suit jackets from the 1980s. 
Tocotronic’s observations of everyday situations and frustrations with Teutonic middle-class conservatism resonated with coming off age youth looking for German music that strayed away from the mainstream.

First starting out with an easily accessible melange of low-fi grungy punk sound paired with disillusioned, personal, headstrong diary-like ironic lyrics, which became integral to their trademark style that dominated the first three albums, the band started to evolve with their fourth release, adding more complex facets to their sonic emissions complemented by lyrics entering more metaphorically subtle territory.

Having recently revisited Tocotronic’s oeuvre, I was particularly taken by their recent albums, which showcase the evolution of a band that has carved its own lane and has refined its sound to incorporate complex and atmospherics arrangements, which are meticulously produced and incorporate a raft of new instruments, e.g. synchs and chamber music, thereby refraining from delving into the chaotically raw and noisy approach they first became popular for.

Lyrically, the recent releases have become much more abstract, aphorism laden and seem to be centred around themes like dissolution and the fantastical to the extent where some might dismiss them as being merely a convoluted array of seemingly unrelated ramblings.

Tocotronic is a band that has successfully reinvented itself and while they have grown in every aspect, at the inner core there is still Tocotronic’s very recognizable DNA, which is informed by an inherent unwillingness to unite with what they despise.

What’s Sumatra with You?

Toby’s Estate

Toby's Estate is one of the more prominent and fabled about coffee roasters in Sydney and goes back to the caffeine aficionado legal professional Toby Smith, who inspired by an aversion to mass produced alternatives, decided twenty-four years ago to channel his alchemy in travelling to coffee-producing communities to learn everything about coffee from scratch in a bid to get the beans from crop to cafés.

Upon his return to terra australis, he set up his own modest roastery to hone his craft before he formally launched what became known as Toby's Estate in 2001, i.e. a café, espresso school and roastery.

Fast forward twenty years and Toby’s Estate has evolved to a veritable heavyweight on the forefront of a one-stop shop for everything remotely related to quality coffee, consistently pushing the boundaries exploring and experimenting, learning, sourcing and developing new speciality flavours, blends and beans.

With its focus firmly set on the creation of a fair and sustainable supply chain that supports each constituent and dealing with them directly, prices are worked out in a collaborative manner, taking into account market and other fluctuations to ensure transparency and fair trade. A more than merely positive side-effect is that Toby’s Estate pro-actively invests in local social and environmental projects that are chosen by its producers in a bid to support grass-roots.

What attracted me to Toby’s Estate ever since I first encountered their emissions fifteen years ago, is the meticulous attention that is paid by a dedicated and passionate team of experts to the roasting process, which is individually calibrated for all the different types of beans they blend and brew.

Toby’s core expressions are comprised of the berry and peach informed Espresso Rico and Woolloomooloo expressions, the latter of which is nuanced with hints of cocoa and spicy highlights. 

What should intrigue anyone remotely into great coffee is Toby Estate’s Flavour Savour series, which this month’s incarnation land with an idiosyncratic Australian twist: The combination of coffees that constitute Lamington is, as the name would suggest, a tour de force into multi-layered chocolate territory, meandering from milky to dark and interweaved with hints of strawberry marmalade. 

Juicy Fruit is an expression whose telling name does not leave a lot of guesswork to work out as this brew is all about a well-balanced melange of vibrant berry nuances.

Toby’s Ahuachapán El Salvador San Jose expression is one of my recent favourite as it ticks all the boxes in terms of what I am looking for in an expresso, with its raspberry flavour that rest against a solid backbone of toffee flavours.