Hoping a band (led by Pete Adams) will
be playing at the NR that night but that they might be willing to let Dave
and Lewis and any other band members have a blow if they are up for
it.
Editor's note: The aftershow is being held at the Noble Rot club (http://www.noblerot.com/) after the
Subterania gig, attendance by guest list. There still seems to be time before
the gig to get your name on the guest list, if you haven't already! Mark says
fans can continue to post their interest on this thread at the
forums: http://www.lewistaylormusic.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=201&page=3
The Recent Past
An absolutely fabulous review submitted by
David Halpern - don't skip over this!
POSITIVELY
LEWIS TAYLOR
david.halpern@virgin.net
29.10.02
Seeing Lewis Taylor live over several
appearances around London in the run up to his new CD release is an uplifting
reminder that transcendental artists are real people breathing the same air as
you or me. Alongside the mysterious sorcery of his studio recordings his live
persona is that of a well-travelled musical gypsy choosing his own course
through the sequins of showbusiness. Now he wants to bring it on…
A swish Piccadilly nightclub. Invitation-only
long-time devotees, friends and musical associates rub expectant shoulders with
"quality" and "industry" press critics. Any day now his new CD will be released
on his own record label. What occurs when a musical forcefield with big name
fans in high places as well as on the "nu/neo/psychedelic/prog soul" street sets
his own agenda without corporate interference?
The answer seems to be: enjoy himself. At every turn
hype and pretension are punctured and the guaranteed delivery of passionate
music shines through. Most performers to whom the word genius gets attached
would stay hidden at their record industry showcase until taking the mic.. Hang
on, here’s the star of the show carrying his own amp into the room, tuning up
and then taking time to personally welcome the well wishers in the room. He
seems sweetly amused by the reverence with which his work gets hailed as fine
art - taking every opportunity to calm the fevered brow of the swooning fan.
What he doesn’t play down is the music.
On stage he’s a natural, musically and personally. At
the series of Noble Rot club dates the man is downstairs and down-home - kicking
back with top musicians whose expression and company he enjoys. Knowing that the
crowd wants him to light the touchpaper on one of his own guitar solos, instead
he’s nodding the band’s accomplished MC, guitarist Dave Ital, to repeatedly take
first spotlight. Later on the main man is requesting "any guitarists in tonight"
to take his stage, stepping into the crowd himself while they take their own
solo.
All in all it’s not what your average
"critically-lauded artist" giving an invitation-only media "showcase" for his
"long awaited new CD" does. Here’s the deal: he doesn’t do clichÈ. More like a
good bloke having a really good time.
The set on these band nights as well as acoustic
appearances at Kashmir centres on new songs or those from his breakthrough first
CD. Those masterpieces that place him possibly uncomfortably on a pedestal? They
get kicked off with casually confident but self-effacing
take-it-easy-and-enjoy-yourself remarks: "Hey, here’s a good one", "Here we go
then," "This next one was a big hit… in my living room" etc. It’s a quirky
combination of deflatory etcetera chat between precious musical diamonds which
followers have been charmed with for some years now.
The difference is there’s less of the bemusingly
unnecessary self-critical remarks when dissatisfied with a performance detail.
Now if he’s feeling the need to apologise for a less than perfect note he picks
up on the comedy rather than the tragedy of life. It looks like Lewis can enjoy
taking it as easy as he encourages his audience to do.
Set wise it’s a fact that apart from the title track
of "Lewis II", songs from the second CD are left out in the cold. If the second
release lacked the singular identity of an all-time great album it stands as a
masterful display of diversity. Modern torch songs such as "Blue Eyes" and
"Satisfied" sat revue style alongside the freshly sliced funk of "You Make Me
Wanna", all taking a powerful heritage one step beyond. Yet none of these are to
be heard during this set of comeback previews. Indeed it was the more
conventionally labelled "soul" songs which he ever gave live exposure. And
today an artist’s refocus on where he’s coming from, rather than a professional
situation he got into, may mean some fine achievements stay rejected, tarred by
the brush of bad experience for more time yet.
When the new songs are introduced they spin upwards
and onwards in Lewis’s unique musical give and take. The irony, whether
intentioned or not, is that most have just what you’d imagine the
cigar-chomping, bean-counting mandarins of a certain previous record factory had
been tub-thumping for all along: more catchy numbers less musical cubism.
Inside the new sound some terrible weight has lifted.
No one gets put on the witness stand in "Send Me An Angel" and with "When Will
I Ever Learn" the only one at fault is an author accepting human frailty.
Where the demons still curse, such as in the stand-out live track "Shame",
earlier songs’ supremely textured hurt accusations and caged frustrations are
now harnessed into a hot thunderbolt – one which walloped the live stage at HMV
Oxford Street last night.
In the midst of these reappearances there’s a lot to
take in. The new, the old – and the new old. Premiered at Lewis’s Kashmir
acoustic appearances, were the startlingly beautiful reworkings of established
material . At Noble Rot they returned or became solo intros. Until now Lewis
Taylor’s band lineups may have changed but they stuck rigidly to recorded
versions. This has been a confusing creative limitation with the artist’s shows
- as if the stage was not a valued space to explore the songs. However, the
Noble Rot group rocked on out into a feelgood juke-joint jam. Improvising made
for a great musical event - but the several stripped down versions of older
songs signalled an event in music.
Could it be that the futuristic hypnotism of his
studio sound obscured full recognition of the good old-fashioned craft of an
inspired songwriter at work? Recording creativity sent us these angels in a
starry night sky fumblingly called "psychedelic soul". Now they rise up from the
earth as delicate jazz and country blues creations. This new flowering puts the
current vogue of pretty jazz girls and unplugged but undistinguished
singer-songwriters to shame. It’s a stunning reminder that the best songwriting
can be infinitely rearranged and rediscovered any old way you choose it. Not
better or worse than the record – just going further inside the song.
But wherever Lewis is going the future plays with the
past. The aptly titled "Postively Beautiful" will trigger knee-jerk comparisons
to Marvin Gaye, especially the words and music of his "Hear, My Dear" twinset
and pearls. Taylor confirms nor denies comparisons. At the last Noble Rot gig he
feels lyrics from the under-celebrated Gaye classic "If I Should Die Tonight"
and drops them into the closing of "Damn". His music includes an undefensive
celebration of all the known and unknown influences he rides into town. Now he’s
doing what fellow musically encyclopaedic artists such as Elvis Costello use the
stage to get over: threading not only inspiration but actual excerpts from
classics through his own work, deepening the resonance of his own originality.
But why do we feel the need to describe and pin down
what Lewis Taylor is up to? His own recent comment about what he is and isn’t,
should and shouldn’t sound like is plain: "It’s only music – don’t get out yer
pram". That’s his truth - however black or white the listener might want to be
about it. Be who you are and listen up. We only need to possess Lewis Taylor’s
music and to let it possess us.
Lewis Out and
About: Promoting Stoned Part One
HMV Mega Store mini-gig - 6 pm October
28, 2002
Matthew
Best:
A few people made it - me for one, ribot and Terry,
and David Halpern, and Mark, of course. Lewis, Ash, Phil and the girls were
all there, but no Dave Ital and no keyboard player at all, which was a bit
odd.
Lewis had managed to sort out backing/click tracks with keyboards so
they weren't missed too much. In fact it made the show sound more like the
album which may have been a good thing for an audience of people who may not
even have known who LT was. (But I'll be happy to see the full band again
at Subterania, nonetheless.)
They only did songs from the new album -
which from memory were "Stoned Pt 1", "Lewis IV", "Shame" "From The Day We
Met", "Lovin' U More" (with Hawi Gondwe playing guitar - he'll be at the
Kashmir Klub next week too) - I think there must have been another song, but
I can't remember what it was (hey - I've been up all night...).
Ali
Staton was there as well, and Terry, ribot and I chatted to him afterwards -
he was very entertaining, and I only wish I could remember even half of what
he said, as most of it was about unreleased LT songs.
I reckon a good few
albums must have been sold, as Lewis was signing and chatting for nearly an
hour afterwards and I was nearly two hours late for work!
Bring on
Subterania!
Citizen:
I was there, but dunno what all you guys
look like otherwise i'd have said hello! Great stuff from Lewis... vocals
sounding really sharp and big congrats to the b/vs... I said in an earlier
post after the media launch that I felt they needed to 'sing up' and make
themselves heard... well they are now doing just that and have clearly been
working really hard on the (tough) material. Well done ladies!
All in all, it was great publicity for
LT, loads of people seemed to be drawn in as they entered the store or came
down the lifts. Looking forward to 19th.
Katie:
I thought Lewis was great, vocals and guitar
playing were really good... shame about the really nasty suit he had on!! And
who is the drummer, he was a sexy guy?
Looking forward even more to seeing Lewis
on 19th now I have had a taster last night at HMV. The songs from the new
album definitely sound a lot better played live than they do on
cd.
markp:
I was there too - thought it was
absolutely brilliant. The album's fantastic anyway, but it sounded even
better live. Stoned was amazing, and Shame (which isn't really one of my
faves on the album), was awesome. I was completely impressed by the whole
thing - surely he must have made some new fans? However, In the rush to get
there, forgot to pick up my Lewis CDs from home, and felt like a scab getting
him to sign a postcard, so didn't meet him. Did anyone else, what did he have
to say?
And did anyone see the lovely, and extremely talented Sia in the
audience? She was stood right next to me and seemed to be really diggin'
the performance. Duet anyone??
Matthew
Robbins:
I think bass
player Francis Hylton (Lynden David Hall, etc) was standing near me... not
certain though!
Mark Ede:
Guitarist from
Brand New Heavies too? (in the pit?)
Lewis on Jazz FM Radio,
November 13/02
Mark Ede:
Lewis on Jazz Fm (7 pm live studio guest
Jazz FM 102.2 FM)
So, who heard the primetime national radio slot with LT
on Jazz Fm then? Good half hour chat with 'Lovin U More', 'Lucky' and
'Sheneverdid' played in full. Lewis mentioned a forthcoming single and
plugged the Subterania gig and the album. Presenter Helen Mayhew is obviously
a huge fan and coming to Sub.
Aaron:
I was glad to hear that Helen Mayhew knew her
stuff, asked some good questions and seemed to be a real fan. Lewis on the
other hand seemed a bit blase about everything (imho), maybe this is the new
chilled out Lewis or maybe he was having an off day. I was very surprised
when he said he doesn't listen to soul music and has never really been into
it, when his music is so soulful especially melody wise...Very
confusing?
Anyway, that aside it was still good to hear
our hero on the radio and his tunes being played.
Lewis on Kiss 100 Radio,
November 17/02
citizen:
Lewis on Kiss 100 (Midnight 17th, live studio
guest on Kiss FM 100 FM)
Good 20 minute slot on Kiss (London-based dance
music station) last night with the fantastic Patrick Forge (check out his
latinhouse project Da Lata) on a seriously groovy show... Lewis came on about
1am after "Sheneverdid", talked about the new record, again sounded
remarkably sympathetic with Island records' predicament and philosphical
about the split. Forge played "Lovelight" and then more chat... Lewis saying
he'd pretty much disowned "Lewis II" - saying it came at a bad time with
wierd things going on in terms of his own life and relations with the record
company - he says although there are some good things on there, he cobbled it
together quickly (I love the record - don't disown it LT!!!). He again talked
about the new band and how in the past he tried to over-MD the band, now
it's rawer and more "rocknroll" !!! Forge closed by playing
"Positively Beautiful" and plugging the gig. So well worth the early-morning
effort! Now we need to target Gilles Peterson on
Radio1.
Aaron:
Lewis was definitely more up for this one and
Patrick Forge also knew his stuff, especially when he mentioned "Pie In
Electric Sky" saying he also loved that psychedelic side of his music. Lewis
said there would be more of that stuff to come after he releases his next
album. Let's hope there's a full house at tomorrows gig... Can't
wait.
Press and Media
Reviews Appearing
posted by
ribot:
This one was found in The Times
supplement called PLAY:
Lewis Taylor is an enigma. He may sell
out gigs in hip London venues but his twisted mix of Seventies-flavoured soul
and prog-rock tends to leave all but the most fashion concious muso
perplexed. Stoned Pt 1, his third album tries to address this. While the
quirky arrangements will be familiar to his fans, Taylor's tunes are now much
more catchy. The psychedelic blues of tracks such as 'Shame' will not
catapult him onto Top of the Pops, but perhaps the album will extend his
appeal beyond the capital's trendsetting cliques.
It got 4 stars
baby!
Mark Ede reports (November
9/02):
Nice review in today's Daily Telegraph
(major UK broadsheet daily) too.
Q Magazine review,
posted by Jake:
North
London's Maverick Marvin Gaye.
Lewis
Taylor
Stoned Part
1
slowreality SRCD01 | 49:39 mins.
* * * * (4 stars
rating)
Self-financed and home-made right down to the
cover art, Taylor's third solo outing is a wonderfully groovesome reminder
what solid graft, sharp musicianship and a splash of inspiration can still
achieve. It may have cost peanuts, but with banked vocals to make Brian
Wilson swoon as well as nods to Norman Whitfield (Positively Beautiful) and
Ernie Isley (check Shame's seeting guitar) you'd never know it; nor are the
vocal comparisons with Gaye spurious either. That he once slung axe for hairy
agit-rockers The Edgar Broughton Band only doubles the pleasure.
Like this? Try this: Marvin Gaye, Midnight Love
(CBS, 1982)
© EMAP Metro Ltd.
Uncut Magazine
review and interview, posted by Phil:
STONED SOUL
PICNIC
London's hard-sell eclectic whizz softens into own
distinctive voice on
third album.
* * * *
(4 stars
rating)
Lewis Taylor has suffered in the past from being perceived
as a muso's musician - gifted, revered by critics, but lacking the hooks to
push him towards pop awareness. It's received wisdom that his
genre-hopping 'psychedelic soul' is too white for smooth groovers, too black
for indie kids. It's a shame, and suggests that if Marvin Gaye emerged
tomorrow he'd be too fluid, too subtle, to catch on. Island couldn't pitch
Taylor profitably, so he's launching his third LP on his own label (the name
of which is an anagram: go on you'll get there).
Far from disappearing up his own unearthly
talents, Taylor's honed his sound and focussed his forays into soul, funk,
rock and reverie. Stoned Part 1 is a velvety delight, exquisitely produced,
which gets stronger with every play. On the surface it seems polished, but
dig in and the emotion and invention are seductive and heartfelt. You can
still play spot-the-source, from Sly Stone to Abbey Road, from late
Temptations to later Isleys, but his own utterances underscore the grand
ambition: this time it's personal.
Taylor's blood runs as richly red as, say
Jamiroquai's runs transparent.
Singling out tracks would be like snipping a
minute from a symphony. The title track opens with rolling thunder wah-wah
funk and shows off his dexterous voice. 'Til The Morning Light' caresses
rarefied peaks from every musical decade in living memory. 'Shame' shudders
into a rock section that's both prog (LT was briefly in the Edgar Broughton
Band) and tasteful. Every piece defies predictability, yet the album hangs
together as a dauntingly impressive, intricate work. Maybe, in constructing
his elegant castles in the air, Taylor has accidentally built a bridge to the
real world. Trust his imagination.
CHRIS
ROBERTS
Q & A
Lewis Taylor
on sound, vision, soul and psychedelia
UNCUT: Can
you force the feel?
TAYLOR: A lot of it's down
to my co-producer, Sabina Smyth. I've let myself be produced, which initially
was difficult, but worth it. If you're doing everything yourself - writing,
recording, singing, engineering, playing guitar - you tend not to give each
the attention it deserves. So it was great having someone to bounce ideas
off, and to stop me before I ended up sounding like Tubular
Bells.
UNCUT: How was the shift to your own
label?
TAYLOR: There's much less pressure. I'm more relaxed.
Ironically, it sounds, if anything, more commercial. On a major label I made
'difficult' records: now I'm suddenly Abba....
UNCUT:
Of course, you remain "too black for indie, too white for
soul.."
TAYLOR: I'm hoping we've overcome that. This time
the references are a lot less obvious. Rather than aping legendary soul
singers, I'm in a place now where what comes out really is Lewis Taylor, not
a bunch of very well done mannerisms.
UNCUT: Is it a
dope album?
TAYLOR: Not necessarily! It's "you stone me";
it's about going out with somebody who's chaotic, a bad influence, and you end
up being all over the place like them
Mojo review, posted
by Matthew Best:
Finding himself out of
contract, north London's own psychedelic soul auteur set up on his own. The
ensuing surge of creative freedom has resulted in a collection of heavy soul
with a lighter heart - a subtle, stealthy charmer of an album, packed with
good things. Fans of his debut frustrated by the second album's more
straightforward approach should be happier, though Stoned retains Lewis II's
pop instincts. Send Me An Angel and the two-tier epic From The Day We Met
feel as much like soul standards as their titles suggest. Positively
Beautiful sounds as if Norman Whitfield's in the room. Morning Light is
visited by Crosby Stills And Nash and a McCartney bass line. The nimble title
track, the moody Lewis IV and the impressive, slinky Sheneverdid all continue
the Sly-In-Space feel of the debut, while Lovelight, with its beautiful JJ
Cale-and-Marvin Gaye-go-Krautrock groove, points somewhere entirely new.
Nobody does this better. In fact, nobody else does this at
all
Posted by loz (November
8/02):
Stoned Part One on British Hit
Singles website
have a look!
British Hit Singles displays
the Stoned Part One album cover prominently on their 'Latest News' Page with
these words:
So you reckon they don't make soul records like they used
to? British soul heavyweight Lewis Taylor does, and he's just released a new
lp 'Stoned Part 1'. Do your record collection a favour and buy this
record.
http://www.britishhitsingles.com/
Help Spread the Word About Stoned Part
One
Mark Ede
suggests:
Be great if people could spread the word on
other websites giving limited marketing product. I'm not so sure
of which sites are best but maybe start with those artists who admire
lewis? (as may be their fans do too?)
Lets all do at least 3 sites each
and spread the word organically.
Official Lewis News
Availability
Don't forget to check the home page of the fansite
- http://www.lewistaylormusic.com/ .
There's a box on the right side of the page where official current and
upcoming news is kept updated by management.
News right now includes the last live radio
interview dates, information about the Subterania gig, and also the
following note about upcoming gigs:
Lewis fans are starting to transcribe lyrics
for the tracks on Stoned
Part One. Jake has contributed lyrics for
Lovelight and YinYan posted the lyrics to
Lewis IV. Keep an eye on the forum thread
above, if you're one of those 'need lyrics' peeps - and while
you're there please post any that you've transcribed yourself!
Lewis Influences Other Musicians'
Creativity
W sent this in for other fans'
attention:
Try this link for a great Lewis-influenced song
by German band vincent, their other stuff is a lot more 80s influenced (think
a cross between Mr Mister and Peter Gabriel or something) but this thing
sticks out http://www.vincentsite.de/The_album/fire.rm (link to the song).
if you go to the main site
(http://www.vincentsite.de/) and click
on their 'News' link, you'll find where they mention how this song (linked
to), Playing With Fire, is influenced by Lewis (and they link to
lewistaylormusic.com).
'Positively Beautiful -
Lewis Taylor News' Archives Available Soon
Thanks to
hadena for the great idea to archive the Positively Beautiful newsletter
online for posterity. That'll happen soon(ish) and the address will
be announced in the newsletter so all fans may access any past issues at any
time. In the meantime, fans can always get
back-issues by emailing their requests to loz at positivelybeautiful@telus.net
.
Follow-Up on the Kashmir Klub Webcast (from
PB Issue 2)
As mentioned in the last issue of
Positively Beautiful, the Kashmir Klub's online webcast - on
which many of us were able to catch Lewis playing live a few times
- was threatened with extinction. Great news - the KK is going back
online! The following taken from the Kashmir Times: Issue
14 newsletter (November 17/02):
"...it is on it's way, just a little delayed.
We will be switching to QUICKTIME instead of realplayer so we advise all our
online fans to download the latest (FREE) quicktime player from www.apple.com asap and
make sure it is intalled ready for the new broadcasts. We are being supported in
our bandwidth by a very dynamic company called MAILBOX.net.uk. We hope to be up
and running next week, so keep an eye on the website or look out for a special
Kashmir Times update..."
Congrats go to Tony Moore and all the Krew at the
Kashmir Klub, along with thanks for all the wonderful music we've
been getting - including Lewis'! - via their webcast. Kudos to Apple
Computers and to MAILBOX.net.uk for supporting the KK, a really wonderful little
klub and online experience. Keep an eye out for the webcast's return and don't
forget to drop into the KK's chatroom while you watch, where tonysmum
(her chatroom name - a lovely lady who many of us Lewis fans have already met)
is the official 'unofficial' chatroom host.
More congrats to the KK - coming up is their
5th anniversary on Saturday, November 23, 2002. They're promising a
'stupendous' line-up, so call 0207 224 2556 to book before they run out of
space, or check to see if the webcast is available by then for viewing (from
what we last heard it likely will be), at http://www.kashmirklub.com/. Best wishes
for your continued success in all your future endeavours, Tony &
Krew.
A Few Extras
These aren't new, so possibly a number of you have
seen them before. The first three are great reads on past
Lewis gigs/albums though, so we thought them worthy to include. Thanks to
Jake for contributing these!
http://www.theurgicseed.com/newsgallery/article10.html (interesting... is this 'our' Lewis writing
this, or could it be another Lewis? yes, there IS another Lewis Taylor, but he's
a graphic artist, not a musician. He's recently been introduced to our
Lewis, and is apparently now checking out the music.)
Lewis-Lovers'
Links
http://www.lewistaylormusic.com/
- Fansite with hugely popular forums... this is the place for
Lewis fans to hang out online, and Lewis himself contributes from time to time.
Lots of information, mp3s and pictures here. There's even a forum specifically
for questions to and answers from Lewis, whenever he is able and/or has
inclination to answer.
http://fanclub.lewistaylormusic.com/
- Lewis Taylor's Fan Collection. a site for and about Lewis
fans. Show your love of and support for Lewis' music by going visible online
with all the other fans there - or just have some fun checking out who else
loves Lewis' sounds.
http://www.soul24-7.com/ - The hugely
popular internet radio station with a soul forum to post messages at. Hear Lewis
music played regularly by the What's The Word team on their show, or try
requesting a Lewis tune by emailing direct to any DJ on-air at studio@soul24-7.com. The more requests
received and forum posts made about Lewis, we believe, the more likely the
station will get behind The Man and his new album!
http://www.slowreality.com/ - Lewis'
official record company site. The site is currently being built... don't give up
checking the link, even if you get a 'holding page' notice currently; keep
checking back because it's coming soon - even sooner than our last mention!
Contact Positively
Beautiful:
All questions, comments, contributions
and suggestions are happily received at positivelybeautiful@telus.net. We
thank all fans for their valued and interesting contributions to the
newsletter.
Until our next issue - take care, keep
the Lewis faith, and spread the Lewis word! The Legend is back!
Positively
Beautiful
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