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James King And The Lonewolves

Of all the existing bands of Stereogram, I believe that James King And The Lonewolves a.k.a James King (vocals/guitar), Jake Mason (guitar/vocals), Joe Sullivan (guitar), Nick Clark (bass), Corey Little ( drums), is the one that has more evident rock ‘n roll influences in terms of riffs and atmosphere. Formed in 1981 in Glasgow, the band’s name is a tribute to ‘Hank Williams With His Drifting Cowboys’ and occurred after the previous name of the band ‘Death Trip’ (a tribute to a Stooge’s song) was abandoned. James King and The Lonewolves have released three singles ‘I Tried/So Alone’, ‘Texas Lullaby’ and ‘The Angels Know’ in 1981, 1983 and 1985 respectively. James King and The Lonewolves have also supported Nico in Glasgow in November 1981. Theatricality in the live performances and passion, are the strongest elements in the delivery of the lyrics and by listening carefully to this band’s songs I perceived them more and more as a cross between Iggy Pop and Marianne Faithfull. Having recovered from a break in communication that lasted 25 years, James King and Jake McKechan released the singles ‘Pretty Blues Eyes/ Fun Patrol’ while the older album entitled ‘Lost Songs of the Confederacy’ that was recorded with John Cale was remastered and has been released through Stereogram Recordings.

Roy Moller

Roy Moller is a Scottish singer-songwriter who has collaborated with Belle and Sebastian guitarist Stevie Jackson and has released his first single in 2003. He has so far released five albums, the last two of which, ‘Domino’ and ‘Your Week Beats My Year’ (a tribute to Lou Reed), have been released through Stereogram Recordings. I think that Roy Moller transfers something from the ‘smoked’ vocals of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan combined and he has actually mentioned Lou Reed as an important influence in his work. Watching Roy Moller’s videos I noticed a fascination for black and white photography and for the 1920s and 1930s aesthetics (i.e. ‘Honey Berlin’, ’Another Man’s World’, ‘Street Oblique’). This is a musician who has won the Keith Wright Poetry Competition in the past and his poetry has been published to literary magazines. It is therefore no wonder that his equal fascination for the ‘Damned Poets’ (see poems entitled: ‘Ballad of The Cast-Off Cards’, ‘Swing’) and the beatniks and his influences from the 1970s music scenes of New York and  Edinburgh would be channelled in a unique way through his music. Roy Moller was commissioned to write and perform a poem for a tribute to Nina Simone in ‘A Celebration of Nina Simone’ at Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow and he has also participated in a Simon &Garfunkel tribute night at the Community Central Hall in Maryhill Glasgow in 2011. Roy Moller’s music fuses the experimental element of psych rock in the instrumental parts  (i.e. ‘Redpath’ , ‘Honey Berlin’ (a reference to Brigid Polk) ) with a singing style that brings to mind simultaneously David Bowie, Lou Reed and Peter Murphy (i.e. ‘Where I Am Is Here’). ‘Capital City’ automatically transferred me somewhere close to Nashville adding country music influences to the sound and if you thought that rock ‘n roll would not have a place in the composition, then have an attentive listen to ‘Captivity’ and ‘Vincent’ and you might listen to a nice fusion of The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones. If you find yourself wanting
to listen to ‘Dark Room’ by Depeche Mode after ‘Edinburgh City Control’ don’t hesitate because ‘Redpath’ that follows (a song about Anne Redpath, an Edinburgh based landscape artist) will make you want to listen to The Beatles and to psych rock music with the same intensity. The experience of listening to ‘Domino’ was fascinating as each song made me want to listen to something else afterwards, as a result of the many references I identified.  Halfway through the album I found myself wanting to listen to B-Movie after ‘Textbook Textbook’ before I finished listening to the album until the end.

Milton Star

Milton Star a.k.a Alan Wyllie (vocals, guitars, instrumentation), Graeme Currie (guitars) is one more fascinating band with a sound that is immediately distinct from all the other bands of Stereogram Recordings. Having a multitude of reference points, most of them related to latin America’s music, the releases of Milton Star are equally unique as the band fuses the quality and immediacy  of Nick Cave’s ballads (i.e. ‘Things Fall Apart’) with the lightness of a Cuban ‘son’ and the quality of a Velvet Underground song. But this is not all. References to western music and to Ennio Morricone’s compositions are identified through the role of the trumpets and the guitar trembles as well as through the imagery of the videos. The music of Milton Star is rich with emotions and make the thought of grabbing the next person on your side and dance, really attractive (my friend with the dress with the cherries would definitely do this). I enjoyed the moment when I recognized a delicate reference to The Velvet Underground’s ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ in the guitar melody of ‘This Kiss’. Overall, fantastic melodies in the guitar will navigate your mind to both happy and sad places…don’t fight this, especially if you recognise another discreet reference, this time to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata in the keyboards’ melody of ‘Things Fall Apart’. The duo is producing, writing, recording all their material in a converted church in Fife, Scotland, a practice that Brendan Perry has also been employing lately for his solo work.

Lola in Slacks

I must admit that I didn’t anticipate the impact of the sound of Lola in Slacks and it took some time before I decided to stop replaying the songs of this band. Lola in Slacks, a.k.a Lou Reid (vocals), Brian McFie (lead guitar), Lesley MacLaren(drums), Dary Irvin (Bass), Villy Karagouni (keyboards), Martin Stuart Taggart (guitar) channel punk posture and punk poetry both through their music and through their aesthetics. Lou Reid brings with her something from the aesthetics of a heroine from a 1950s movie, while Patti Smith, Gitane Demone and Melina Mercouri seem to be reincarnated through her voice that combines the two. I think it’s safe to assume that if Andy Warhol was still around, he would have definitely made a portrait of Lou Reid. The singing style and the bass vocals are captivating and hypnotizing and the overall mood has the same effect as listening to Ella Fitzgerald. But this is not all as this is one of the very few bands that have a female drummer and a pianist who we have heard before, a few years ago when she was the keyboard player of the greek band Ophelia’s Garden (who we had the chance to see performing live once in Athens before they disbanded).The debut single of Lola in Slacks entitled ‘Tramlines’, was released in Stereogram Recordings in August 2015 and since then the band has mainly performed live in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

St Christopher Medal

St Christopher Medal a.k.a brothers Ali and Kenny Mathieson, Billy Nisbet and David Mack, are the reincarnation of Life With Nixon, a pop band formed in 1998 in Glasgow. The music of the band emits an appreciation for country and blues. As the band has explained, its members live in different cities and some in different countries but it is the commitment and the fulfilment of playing music together, that has motivated them to meet again. The instrumental parts of their songs reveal skilful guitar playing and a love for the melodic aspect of rock ‘n roll. Their album entitled ‘Sunny Day Machine’ was released on February 2015 in Stereogram Recordings.

Band of Holy Joy, The Cathode Ray and  Roy Moller will play live at a night-tribute to the sound of Stereogram on April 15, 2016 at Sebright Arms and there could not be a better opportunity to get a taste of the bands’ music than this night!

Blaue Rosen