Compendium - The Second Hand Marching Band

Track list:
   
1. Mad Sense
2. Lies
3. A Dance to Half Death
4. Don't!
5. Not Yet
6. We Walk in the Room
7. BonBon
8. Grit and Determination
9. My Gift is Waiting
10. Next Year
11. Bottle of Anger/Lies (BBC Scotland Radio Session)
12. A Hurricane, a Thunderstorm (BBC Radio Scotland Session)
13. Love is a Fragile Thing (Sleazy version)
14. Learn to Love (2007 demo)
15. Bypass (2007 demo)
16. Transformers (2007 demo)
17. Dawn Raid (2009 demo with Benni Hemm Hemm)
18. Alexander and Angela (2009 demo)

Running time: 69 minutes
Released: 2010

I've written about how I came across The Second Hand Marching Band before. This has the look of a best-of and retrospective, including tracks I have elsewhere, but that's alright by me. Twee Scottish low-fidelity amateur charm is OK in my book.

It is a suitably low key starter for 10. Mad Sense's slow tempo, a lone voice, adding another. It's disarmingly charming. Yes, I was biasing myself towards this before I started, but there really is something comforting about the simplicity here. That said, I am happier for the bigger sound and a bit more life in Lies as that takes over, its intro more than half its length before the vocal joins. 

I can't help but feel, though, that I should stop this listen after three tracks, because A Dance to Half Death is undoubtedly the summit. I have loved this track since the first time I heard it. There's some fragility in the voice that endears, whilst the main theme, the twiddling tunes behind the vocal and the pace all strike emotional chords (pun intended) in me.  There is a rawness to it all, a heart laid bare, a pleading appeal. In some ways the song is amateurish, the voice almost fades away in places and it sounds like only an indie-effort could... a little rough around the edges. Yet the earnestness, the genuine intent and belief of the performers and the tones of their strings stir feelings in me, a sort of comfortable loneliness and longing. It is, I think, a masterpiece, albeit one most people will never hear or appreciate.

The sense that everything is slightly off-key can't be as easily brushed off on the more bombastic Don't!, and here the effect of everyone playing and singing together has more of a cacophony about it, and then we hit the first of the tracks on this album that I don't recognise. Not Yet jettisons the noise for a stripped back sound, a female main vocal, it reminds me more of Strike the Colours' less pop-y pieces in places with the intricate little strumming loops, though overall the similarities aren't that great. It builds nicely and I find myself enjoying it a lot.

Of course, my liking this should not be any surprise; The Second Hand Marching Band shares (shared?) some overlap in membership with eagleowl, a lot of their tunes exhibit that very clearly, and eagleowl are the best band no-one ever heard of and the group that I keep going back to when being alone all the time tips over into loneliness. The downside of that is that hearing those sounds when I wasn't feeling lonely (like just now) can tip me over into the very loneliness that I use these sounds to escape. Today is a calm day of not much between two days of hosting people for board games and in the aftermath of family Christmas. The quiet and peace are - or were - welcome, especially as I don't really feel like I have been off work for a week yet!

The album loses its way a bit in the middle. All pace slips from the tunes, and they strip back too far to be interesting. They retain a gentle charm, but it is a detached one, rather than an intimately engaging one.

The combination of Bottle of Anger/Lies brings back the energy. Yes, it is in part a repeat, and I could have sworn it was something I had elsewhere, and a quick search suggests that I axed it! Huh. Context matters - here this combo really worked to bring back something that was lacking as the mid-section drifted. There I found the raucousness abrasive. Odd. I am still not that enamoured of A Hurricane, A Thunderstorm though and I may axe that again (especially as I have other versions).

It amuses me that there is a sleazy version of, well, anything that would be advertised as such, but that is where we are with Love is a Fragile Thing... I can't hear anything immediately worthy of that term, so I guess it is a bit tongue in cheek (or I am tone-deaf). Then we are into a bunch of demos to finish off the offerings.

Learn to Love starts these off with the same trembling vocals that endeared A Dance to Half Death to me. Here there is less to back that up, but it is still plenty pleasant. Actually it may end up being these demos are the real reason to have this album... the search for where I had Bottle of Anger/Lies before laid open how Compendium is less a greatest hits and more the collected works. The first 10 tracks come from two EPs, 11 and 12 from the BBC sessions linked above. Happily thus far they are well worth having. The recording is a little harsher, louder, than perhaps would be ideal but the tone of the songs is right.

My attention wandered, and I find myself suddenly at the end of Transformers without consciously processing the bits in between - nice soft guitars, low key vocal and not a lot to do with the track name as far as I can tell...

Two to go, then; 10 more minutes.

I find my words are gone. My drive to type MIA. Suffice to say I really like Dawn Raid even though I cannot find the lines to explain why. The closing track I am less keen on. Musically its more of the same and OK, but the lyrics are mean-spirited in places. Not a good finish.

Interlude: eagleowl and thoughts they inspired

Sometimes I have a strong need to share beauty. Most of those times I have no-one to share it with, not anyone likely to appreciate it, anyway. Right now I am sloughing away my evening listening to eagleowl and musing on:

1. I rather wish that they would release more (but I suspect this is unlikely)
2. They strike a chord with me so completely that it is hard to put into words
3. I wish that I could explore that with someone
4. If I could only save songs from one artist in my collection it would be these 22
5. Space and time to myself is great, but sometimes I'd like to have something else

I have been leaning toward elegiac sounds of late. Damien Rice the other night, Eagleowl tonight... strains of loss, of yearning for something other than what one has. How is it that I can find all this music that resonates with me, but not know anyone else who would appreciate it? 

This leads me to another, more depressing, thought. The death of my going to gigs. I have hardly been to anything for a long time... yearly trips to see Bellowhead and/or Spiers & Boden (and later this year Boden on his own, now they have split) but basically nothing else. It's a hole, a big one. Not only am I somewhere that sees little through traffic, but when I do hear about interesting events further away I have none to travel with. Gig-going alone is not so bad, but when you have the hassle of it not being nearby, the negatives are amplified.

To depress myself further, my tastes have been ossifying. I have hit that time in life, I guess when I am exposed to less new stuff and very rarely find new artists of interest. I am still acquiring a lot (more than I am posting of late, but that's not saying much) but it's all from artists and groups that I have followed for a time. That's not entirely true, on reflection. I have taken a couple of punts in "safe" genres where doing so nets you something vaguely reliable - like folk.

Anyhow, enough self-indulgent projecting for now. Time to wrap this up and get ready to wind down the weekend.

Clean the Night - eagleowl

Track list:

1. Clean the Night
2. Life We Knew

Running time: 8 minutes
Released: 2014

Ah eagleowl (small e because all their promo stuff eschews capitals; alas I capitalised the tag some time back and cannot seem to correct this). One of my favourite bands all told. I bought this earlier this year - not realising they had made anything available since This Silent Year in 2013. I routinely find myself listening to shuffles just of eagleowl tracks - there is something very pleasant and rewarding about their understated compositions that just chimes with me. These two tracks cost me the best part of a tenner (I did get the physical picture disc for that, too, mind).

I am doing this on the first day on my Grecian holiday for the year, good intentions to do it earlier dashed by tiredness. Now, with a 30 degree plus sun outside the slow, dark, moody tones of Scotland feel a long way off. There is, though, a definite comfort in the simple guitar hook, the droning strings and the accented vocal. I am starting to unwind after the travel yesterday and the joy of not having anything to do today, and whilst incongruous with the Mediterranean weather, the post-folk refrains of Clean the Night are joyous invitations to relax. There is a soothing quality to the primary male voice in particular, but that is backed up well.

The second, shorter, track is more peppy to begin with - the snatched chords brighter and happier even as the words reference scattering ashes. The upbeat nature of the song shines through, little hook repeating, the layers of dark strings from the first tune absent for the most part. There is a constant chorus of "oohs" from the female vocalist giving a nice contrast to the male-led song and whilst by the time it closes I find the track a little repetitive I cannot hold this against them. eagleowl bring me joy... I rather wish there was more.

And the Rest Will Follow - The Second Hand Marching Band

Track list:

1. Those Words (demo 2012)
2. A dance to half death (original demo)
3. Were you there at St Peter's Square?
4. We walk in the room (original demo 2006)
5. We Will Convince You (original demo)
6. Transformers (B side)
7. Periphery (2011 demo)
8. Fingers Turn Blue (2012)
9. Enter the room with a loud boom (2006)
10. Church Hall (2012)
11. Children's children's children (demo 2012)
12. a+a (2008)
13. Today (2012)
14. I don't know what I need, I don't know what to say
15. Gregory (B side)
16. I went down to see Jane
17. What do you love for?
18. Only in tears/wrench of my hand
19. A hurricane, a thunderstorm (original demo)
20. Bottle of Anger (demo 2013)
21. Doorframe (B side)
22. Half Lies Through Half Teeth (demo)
23. Grit and Determination (first demo)
24. Little bit (demo)
25. Love is a fragile thing (2008 demo)

Running time: 90 minutes
Released: 2015

This was an impulse purchase... part of an entire discography. The Second Hand Marching Band made that easy by facilitating a pay what you want type deal over on Bandcamp - one cheaper than purchasing just the most recent album alone. I paid more because I have loved some of their free stuff in the past, grabbing it after I saw them live at Big Tent. This looks to run the gamut of their material, I suspect it will be rough, raw, but interesting.

The Second Hand Marching Band are a massive ensemble, playing folksy but modern tracks. The demo of Those Words downplays the size of the group. A simple brass tune and a softly sung lyric. It's a relaxed start to the collection, before we are pitched into the song that made me fall in love with the group. A Dance to Half Death is... really hard to describe. Big brassy riff, charming little chimes and guitar structure, broken voice delivering heartfelt lines. Its a a real oddball, but a real gem. In places the sounds don't quite come together right, but the earnestness of the performance outside of that allows easy forgiveness.

With it appearing as the second of 25 tracks here though I wonder if the peak is too soon into the mammoth 90 minute overall run time. It is Easter Monday; 4th day of the weekend. I should be feeling relaxed by now but I am not. Tiredness is still the dominant tide in my makeup, and I have plans later. This is my morning sorted.

From the rich deep tapestry of one track, we go to a largely solo, unaccompanied song. It has a charm to it but I am glad it runs short of 2 minutes. The transitions between pieces are sharp - they use their run time - and we are into a piece that reminds me of Amiina. There is a soft welcoming comfort in the structure and I find myself not really listening but rather sinking into the sounds and enjoying the overall ambience more than the specific sounds. Looking down the track list it is very likely I have most of these tracks on other albums picked up in the same bulk deal, over and above those that I had as freebies previously. I find that I am rather happy about this. Whilst part of the idea of this project was to trim down and shape up my library, the idea that I might actually promote some of the more obscure stuff is a positive in my mind.

I'm just saying, but this sort of sound is not what I would expect from a tune called Transformers. All lonely guitar work and soft voices. One of the reasons I fall for tracks and groups like this is that I rather value the less than perfect singing voice. There is an audible fragility in our lead vocalist, a flaw that really injects humanity into the pieces, present but not distracting from the main thrust. It is one of the things that really drew me to King Creosote originally, and he became a firm favourite. Flaws open us up, make us easier to relate to.

It amuses me to see "demo" against so many of these tracks. I am not sure the significance of it given the self-supported nature of the group - who are they demoing to? My ears (and likely my speakers) are not sufficiently good to pick up on significant differences in recording quality in those tunes I recognise. I find myself distracted; I have a silent TV on with the snooker - I don't quite know why but I think the idea of having something to pull my eye from these words every now and again was a good idea given the length of this disc; silent TVs can be mesmeric though, even when as dull as two baldies playing snooker (seriously, it's like there are three cue balls).

Church Hall has a more polished sound to it, in just about every way - including the singer's voice... until I typed that at least. I find myself really liking this piece. But I also suspect despite being a digital purchase from the band via Bandcamp this song may be mis-tagged. The lyrics constantly mention "fingers turned blue" which was two tracks back... hmm. Oh well, who cares. There's an insouciance, of all things, about some of these tracks in the middle of the run. It's quite uplifting.

I spent yesterday world-building, taking the product of my first game of Microscope and adding some detail to flesh out a setting for an RPG campaign. I should rather have been reading systems, as that is the part that is at question, but still. I am reminded how when roleplaying I often find more interest in the setup of a new game than the game itself once it gets going. With this project it is often the opposite - I find reasons not to do listens, not to sit down for that long to listen to this thing which I am not sure I will enjoy, but often when I get down to it I find enjoyment I wasn't expecting. The track that is just ending had a really aggressively struck acoustic riff; I loved it to start with, but 5 minutes later it was more of a yoke.

The track with the longest title on the album is a short one, the title "I don't know what I need, I don't know what to say" repeated in duet as structure for a little song over the top of it. It's quite amazingly good. The two lines don't compete at all, and the Scottish twang of the main singer is a real treat. There's a lovely gentle lilt to it, the breathy male/female duet on the structural title carrying a rhythm that you would never normally apply to it. I really like the track. High point 3, I think. The tracks are ticking over and time is ticking on; this hour and a half is not a chore at all.

In a different context the rawness of these tracks might be a detriment, but there is such a quiet, understated charm to the songs that immediately begs forgiveness of their weaknesses. There is no pretense here, just openness. Proper music, done for the love of it - sharing that love with those who would have it. Tone is important, here the tone is casual, warm, inclusive and laid back, even when the songs aren't so much. I suppose that is one of the things about being a 17-piece (or similar) - so many people need to buy in, even if the vision - and indeed the majority of the tune - is coming from a few.

Occasionally the songs strain our singer's voice more than is seemly. I like the hints of fragility when he holds it without quite breaking, but when it pushes that fraction further it is less appealing. Thankfully in the cases that has happened, the simple and welcoming acoustic forms of the track have provided a safety blanket. There hasn't been anything that wasn't a net pleasant experience, even when individual elements have fallen down.

I have reached track 18; there is still a whole album to go in length terms. This track has a punchy tempo, a true ensemble feel to it. In some ways it is a very weak track - the vocal is poor, distant and unengaging compared to other songs, but the energy from the band sustains it, the rhythm providing a foundation for them to elevate the vocal from downer to mere drawback.

The demo of A Hurricane, A Thunderstorm sounds very different to my memory of the final track - much more subdued. The aural picture I had in my head for this one had some bombast around the chorus, here it is a muted appeal. I suspect it is more likely the case that my memory is confusing the track with something else. The appeal here though is the roll, the pattern in the verse, the brass section providing a repeating pattern, a sway that invites you in until you are bobbing like a boat in winds much lighter than the titular storm. I would be lying if I said that every moment of this album was genius, but I don't think everything needs to be genius to be genuinely worthwhile. Genuine is a good descriptor, actually. I am not convinced that I would ever sit down to really listen to this again, but, as with compatriots Eagleowl, I find a nice easy connection to the tunes of The Second Hand Marching Band which makes them a comfort. With Eagleowl, I think the music is a little bit more special, but the same principle applies.

I think I have run out of thoughts, of words, a bit before the end. When I saw the length of this album I thought it would be tough to fit it in, it took conscious prioritisation to get to it this morning. I am really glad I did. There is an authenticity and a charm to this collection of tracks that is really uplifting. A good morning.

BBC Scotland 10.8.9 - The Second Hand Marching Band

Track list:

1. Bottle of Anger/Lies
2. A Hurricane, a Thunderstorm

Running time: 10 minutes
Released: Unclear

So I am advancing this up the order to break up the Folk Awards albums a little. I am not certain where I came across The Second Hand Marching Band but I know that I fell in love with A Dance to Half Death from the release of the same name. They are made up from members of other Scottish groups, including Eagleowl, who I love a lot, so that comes as no surprise. These two tracks, freely available here, form part of a session recording, along with one more track that is not so free, but my search-fu is weak and I cannot find a date.

Bottle of Anger/Lies is a mass-sung number and to be honest it is quite unpleasant. The only instrumentation for the first 90 seconds is a quite harsh, unmodulated organ and the harmonies in the chorus are not great. However when the tune picks up and the other parts come in the tone changes completely to the sort of charming, under-produced, raucous play-along that easily tugs at my heart. A song of two halves - brittle then brilliant. Annoying then heart warming. I think the opening is enough to damn it though as I have more of the latter feeling. The main piece here is the second track, a longer effort which keeps the tumbledown charm and slightly off-kilter performance. The tone of the delivery means that the harmonies are much more pleasant and there is a lilt to the singing that works well with both the arrangement and the disparate voices represented. It is better whilst it maintains a sense of purpose, and when it dwindles down to almost nothing it becomes dull and some of the worse aspects of the harmonies reappear - I keep waiting for it to build again for a better finish but it does not.

Frustratingly there are 2 halves of really nice pieces here, but alas it is the second half of one and the first half of the other. I do not think either are worth keeping, which saddens me some.

Apron Strings - The Memory Band

Track list:

1. Blackwaterside
2. Come Write Me Down
3. Brambles
4. Green Grows The Laurel
5. I Wish I Wish
6. The Light
7. Want You To Know  
8. Deltic Soul
9. Why
10. Reasons
11. Evil  
12. The Poacher

Running time: 47 minutes
Released: 2006

I am almost but not entirely positive that I bought up albums from The Memory Band after hearing something I liked of theirs on some form of LastFM station. I am damned if I can remember the parameters of that discovery, mind... maybe Tunng? My suspicion is that these albums (I have this plus The Memory Band) are chock full of songs that I will not recognise enough to have associated them to the group without looking, but which I rather enjoy when they come up in random plays.

Now is the time to find out.

We start with Blackwaterside - experiment to cram three words together? - which has a catchy enough hook. The strings overlaying it are a touch sharper than I would like but there is an easy rolling charm to the tune that comes out of the marriage. With no vocals to play against, the meander of those strings provides the main element and whilst a flatter, smoother sound would have been welcome in places it is a promising start. The cut-over into the next song is rather abrupt, and this very definitely has an early Tunng-like feel. The sounds are stronger but the style of the vocal is very reminiscent of Genders-era Tunng. The vocal itself is not as strong, and the bolder volume of the instrumentation offsets this a little. I find the hook slightly sub-par though - a little too much repetition, reflected in the vocal with the chorus featuring over heavily. It is half brilliant effort, half disappointment - so near but so far. I should not be surprised, of course, by the early Tunng similarity, since Sam Genders and Stephen Cracknell - the main brain behind The Memory Band - went on to be The Accidental together.

Brambles has a promising start, layered loops that hint at much to like if the tune will break out from them. Unfortunately, there is not quite enough variation on the theme for me to really fall for this track. Like Come Write Me Down before it, it does not quite live up to its potential. 3 songs in and I am frustrated; almost very good, it just falls short each time. I hope the tunes to come break that pattern in a positive way, because it is literally just round the corner, over the hill, the next step that counts, etc. etc.

I see from their entry on LastFM that Lisa Knapp was a member at some point. Her vocal would add something - love her voice a lot, but she's not on either of the albums I own. However whilst I worry about that, I Wish I Wish has brought everything together brilliantly... at least to the point where the denouement overstays its welcome by about 2 minutes (which includes another chorus before it closes). I am prepared to forgive an unwillingness to end a beautiful song though - it is certainly a lesser crime than just failing to entice and excite. I am happy, too, when the next song starts with a stronger, jauntier guitar part. Positivity is maintained, energy transferred, head nodding engaged. The Light really is that - a ray of light in a dark evening, a breath of fresh air and just on the right side of the balance that was underweighted earlier.

The first refrains of Want You to Know are very promising, reminding me of Eagleowl (and specifically mf). It evolves away from that a bit, but remains in the same vein generally. This I approve of - Eagleowl are one of the best bands you have never heard of, one of the finds I am happiest with over the last few years. But enough of someone I am not listening to... after a short interlude, we get a nice fiddle/guitar tune which comes with a song. This is nicely put together; the album is winning me round after the early near misses. The tunes are hanging together better, the songs sung nicely.

Evil breaks that pattern. It is duller, less tuneful and less interesting. The vocal suits the style of the song, but is not to my taste. Overall the album is a bit of a mixed bag, and nothing shows this off more than the final track which is like none of those before. Slightly dodgy harmonies, more purposeful strumming and wandering melody. It is a little bit of a mess, but a mess that has a certain charm to it. My overall impressions have been mostly positive - enough so that I am searching out the two albums I am missing. It is a strange little collection though and I reckon more time (which it probably will not get, to be honest), would benefit the impression.