Thursday, April 26, 2007
Let's Get Out Of This Country
I've been so busy writing assessed essays, revising for exams, speaking German to myself in my bedroom and buying fondue sets on eBay that I forgot that I'd not yet blogged about Camera Obscura when I was up in Edinburgh at the end of March (the last gig I went to, how rubbish!).
Their latest album is the astounding Let's Get Out Of This Country and was a big success in the end of year blog charts, if nowhere else. They are a Scottish band and their singer, Tracyanne Campbell sings with a strong, bittersweet, crystal clear Scottish accent. I love it. Considering the name of their album, it seems ironic and yet fitting that I saw them in Edinburgh, my hometown and at the Liquid Rooms which is just 50 metres from the Camera Obscura I first knew. Their songs fill me with that wistful feeling of longing for escape, of being half in love and half ready to blow the whole place up. That's what Edinburgh/Scotland does to me.
The gig was wonderful, the beautiful songs were coupled with Tracyanne's very dry wit which rubbed off well on the usually stale Edinburgh crowd. The live instrumentation reminded me of when I saw Bright Eyes on the I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning tour when he had an 11 piece band with him and the sound was just immense. Every twang, horn, slide guitar, tambourine shake made my arm hairs stand on end. The climax of the show was the encore, they played a cover of Abba's Super Trooper in their own style. People were humming along trying to figure out how they knew the song and then as the first line kicked in, wry smiles spread across all faces. The band finished on Razzle Dazzle Rose, which was was superbly epic, building to a huge orchestral climax at then end - it was absolutely perfect.
You can stream their cover of Super Trooper here or hear it on the b-side of their current single, Tears For Affairs, which is out this week.
Speaking of getting out of this country I will be flying off to New York in exactly 30 days! VVVVery exciting it is and the fact that The Long Blondes will be playing twice when I'm there! And CSS! And Bright Eyes! And many more, I'm sure.
posted by Unknown at 4/26/2007 06:31:00 pm
1 Comments:
said...
I can't wait for your reviews!!!!!
