concert | Massively Attacked

Photo by Jakob Dall (Source: myspace.com/angumotzfeldt)

Yes…yet another Euphonious Friday has been pushed off to Saturday…ALMOST Sunday at this point. It’s been a busy weekend and I’ve been enjoying far too much maple whiskey. But I digress…

You might have noticed from my gushing about the artist I’ll be profiling from the Nunavut blog that I’ve kind of fallen in love with his music. We were fortunate enough to get to see Nuuk, Greenland’s Angu Motzfeldt perform at the Alianait Arts Festival in Iqaluit this year, and there was no way that I was going to let him get away without picking up at least one of his CDs.

We got to see him perform live…and it was just him and his guitar up onstage. His voice is reminiscent of Chris Martin from Coldplay, but I find him so much more engaging than that. So many of his songs seem to be about his relationships with people or perhaps a specific person…I’m not certain. But the lyrics are simple and honest and very pretty.

‘Childhood Song’ comes from Angu’s second full length CD Burning Blue Skies. When he sang it live, he talked about it being something he remembered hearing when he was younger. His voice just sings to me…which is appropriate I suppose. But he seems like a very genuine artist, and that is something that really makes an artist more endearing. Very humble…very happy to be sharing his music. All around, he’s just a lovely musician and he is a very talented photographer as well. If you like what you see/hear, I urge you to go check out his work.

Enjoy…

I heard your voice the other day
I can’t get you out of my head
It’s the soundtrack to our souls
It’s the music to our story, untold

I couldn’t help smiling
And I’m singing out loud to hold on to you
My eyes couldn’t help watering as you hit my soul
But then you went away the next day
Childhood song where are you

Passing time in wonderland
We were just looking at each other, listening to each other
And whenever I fall you aways reach out your hand
You’re the only one who understands

It’s raining outside, but not on you
It’s cold outside, but not around you
It’s dark outside, but the light surrounds you
The sun has gone down, but it’s still shining on you

Unfortunately, a video does not exist for ‘Childhood Song’, but it is online to listen to. Check it out… You can also hear some of his other stuff there.

Here is the video for one of Angu’s other songs, ‘Red Lights’.

Robert Del Naja (3D) and Grant Marshall (Daddy G), with Horace Andy in the background

Yeah, so it’s Saturday now. Uploading large videos in Iqaluit isn’t exactly how I wanted to spend two hours of my life due to errors, but c’est la vie.

In honour of it being just over a year since I first saw the band that inspired the name of my blog live, I decided I would feature one of my favourite songs by Bristol-based Massive Attack – “Unfinished Sympathy”. One of the reasons I chose this over another was that I managed to snag a video of this song from the concert. And because this song has been named one of the best songs of all time by numerous European media sources. What’s wrong with you North America?!?

So back on May 9 of 2010, Ian and I had the very good fortune of checking out the Massive Attack tour as it passed through the Sound Academy in Toronto. We both recall it being colder than it should have been that day. We stood in line freezing our tushes off, listening to some dude who was parked on the cul-de-sac by the club blasting Michael Jackson’s “Billy Jean” and other classics. All the while, we remarked on the varying ages of people attending the show…we thought we were gonna be the Oldie Oldersons of the bunch, but there were a couple in their 50s that were standing around us too. Very cool. I was overly worried that security was going to snag my camera before I got in, as there had been rumours on some message boards that the club did that – though it appeared to be on a show by show basis. If the band didn’t care, then neither did the venue. Thankfully that was the case, as I managed to get some amazing pictures that night – which I am obviously going to be sharing with you. What good blog host wouldn’t??

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Shara Nelson

“Unfinished Sympathy” was released waaaaay back in 1991 on the album Blue Lines. It features singer Shara Nelson whose amazing vocals layer nicely over the strings and samples. To hear it live was a phenomenal experience – so rarely do I see a band where the music is reproduced so accurately, so beautifully live in comparison to the recorded album.

Wow.

Shara is just one of many vocalists that have graced core members Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles (who is no longer with the group) with their presence. Throughout the course of their five full length albums, not including best of compilation Collected, their singles box set or the soundtrack for Danny the Dog (known as Unleashed in the US starring Jet Li), they’ve attracted a huge number of singers to sing over their tracks. These include Horace Andy (a contributor to all of their albums), Neneh Cherry, Tricky, Tracey Thorn (of Everything But The Girl), Sarah Jay, Elizabeth Fraser (of the Cocteau Twins), Sinead O’Connor, Mos Def, Damon Albarn (of Blur), Tunde Adebimpe (of TV on the Radio), Martina Topley-Bird (who has worked extensively with Tricky), and Guy Garvey (of Elbow). As you can see from the pictures, some of the past vocalists come back to tour with the band live.

There has been a lot of debate over the actual song lyrics and what it’s about. From the recorded material and the live versions that I have, this is the best estimation I can make for the lyrics. Interpret as you like.

I know that I’ve been mad in love before
And how it could be with you
Really hurt me baby, really cut me baby
How can you have a day without a night?
You’re the book that I have opened
And now I’ve got to know much more

The curiousness of your potential kiss
Has got my mind and body aching
Really hurt me baby, really cut me baby
How can you have a day without a night?
You’re the book that I have opened
And now I’ve got to know much more

Like a soul without a mind
In a body without a heart
I’m missing every part

Like a soul without a mind
In a body without a heart
I’m missing every part

The video for this song was one of the first to employ the use of a continuous shot. It has been imitated quite often, including The Verve’s video for “Bittersweet Symphony”…ironic, no?

Here’s a couple more videos from the concert we attended, including the full length version of “Unfinished Sympathy”. The audio is quite distorted since we were right in the front and it was loooooud. You can probably even hear me screaming at points. Yup. That’s me.