A Christmas Carol, Sherman Cymru Theatre

(Morning Star, 28 December 2009)

With the sonorous chimes of Big Ben, director Amy Hodge's A Christmas Carol slinks on to the stage of Sherman Cymru.

Looking the part with a set of frankly oversized machinery, the extraordinarily well-known tale enjoys a low-key introduction with ghostly Jacob Marley - in chains of course - expounding nicely.

More unexpected is Mark Frost's boyish Ebenezer Scrooge, but shaving off a few years from the old chap just adds extra vim to the show.

The Ghost of Christmas Past paints Scrooge's life to date perfectly with highlight song The System Works - "the system that made me," as Scrooge has it.

The arrival of a camp, gaudy and rather bawdy Ghost of Christmas Present is a shock to the senses, but clearly makes the event more pantomime, to the delight of the children in attendance.

Regardless, the quiet epiphany of Scrooge and the requisite festive ending brings it all reassuringly home.

Runs until January 9. Box office: (029) 2064-6900.

Pic: Farrows Creative

Plum (And Me, Will!), Sherman Cymru Theatre

(Morning Star, 19 December 2009)

A musical quartet bedecked in stripes and every colour of the rainbow greets the audience of Plum (And me, Will!) - the perfect first step in a show which both enchants and entertains. Louise Osborn, responsible for last year's successful Cinders, has once again created a magical world for young imaginations. The protagonist, Katy Owen's Will, is a boy with a 'tiger temper' - causing him to break his mother Hannah McPake's prized traditional Christmas decorations. With only a night to get the elf, soldier and fairy Plum mended before his father gets back from 'across the sea', Will goes on the adventure of a lifetime, battling pirates and tigers to right his wrongs.

Delightful and exuberant, the children watching were spellbound by the original story and audience interaction, and the themes of family and responsibility for one's actions are well integrated into the tale. A touch of modernity does cloud the timeless production, however, when the reason for Will's father's absence becomes clear.

Plum (And Me, Will!) runs until 2 January 2010. Visit www.shermancymru.co.uk for more information.

Emmy The Great - First Love

(Morning Star, Albums of 2009 round up)

Rammed with the sort of DIY production that makes indie fans swoon; Emma Lee Moss’ debut longform record is one of 2009's classics. Pop culture offers many lyrical touchstones, but there's a timelessness to Emmy's greatness, from namechecking Leonard Cohen to 'aah aah aahs' aping 60s girl groups, all shot through with delicious melancholy. The lovely 'MIA' is the high point of both heartfelt wonder and quirk overload, but really, all of Emmy The Great's songs are bewitching stories - we are merely blessed with the ability to listen to her in wonder.

Allo, Darlin’ - The Polaroid Song

(Muso's Guide, December 3, 2009)

Single review

There’s a special place in every girl’s heart for twee pop. The Cardigans doing ‘Carnival’, Belle and Sebastian doing, well, any of their songs - it’s enough to make any red-blooded chick wear Hello Kitty slides in their fringe, get a uke and wear their boyfriend’s ratty brown cardigan.

Incidentally, making this sort of music have ‘Allo Darlin’ veer the same way - kooky, uke-y, and, on ‘The Polaroid Song’, very Lenka.

Elizabeth and Bill are from Australia, Mike and Paul are from Kent, but they’ve come together here in the UK to make the sort of fey indie pop that we should all demand more of. ‘The Polaroid Song’ is an upbeat, uptempo pop classic with its feet firmly in the past, telling tales of camera film of old.

The backing vocals add a richness to Elizabeth’s sweet vocal, and the whole thing is the aural equivalent of a hot chocolate packed with marshmallows - sweet, comforting and repeated consumption is never enough.

What would have been, in days of yore, the ‘B-side’ is the seasonally appropriate ‘Would You Please Spend New Year’s Eve With Me?’.

Steeped in some of that lovely ukelele tunefulness, Elizabeth’s breathy voice is both sweet and sultry, as she suggests we “hide in my bedroom and watch cartoons all night”. There’s a special place in every girl’s heart for that, too.

Jesca Hoop - Hunting My Dress

(AU magazine, December 2009)
Album review

It would take a brave man to suggest that Californian kook Jesca Hoop is anything other than the next big thing. Having received notable endorsements from Tom Waits - who she used to nanny for - and Guy Garvey, she is on her way to success, whether you like it or not. And you might like it - gentle and feminine, she hits the high notes with aplomb and regularity, before plunging to the long, low ones with surprising skill. So, vocal range, interesting celebrity friends and a lot of moxie - a pretty good package if you throw in insistent radio-friendly hits like 'Whispering Light' and soulful reveries like 'Murder of Birds'. Off the wall and on her way.

Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse

(AU, December 2009)
Album review

Despite inexplicably naming their debut - and themselves - for some sort of death metal alter egos, LA female trio Warpaint have started on an excellent footing - an album mixed by RHCP guru John Frusciante and opening for The Slits. This dreamy, hazy excursion smells like teen spirit with My Bloody Valentine's album tucked under its arm. The driving drumbeats push the songs on relentlessly, but instead of sounding harsh and rocky, there's a hypnotic beauty to the music here, a real creation of soundscapes. With song lengths ranging between four and seven minutes, it's clear these chicks love to play, but it's haunting ephemera at its very best. Opener 'Stars' kicks into something rather special, while mournful 'Billie Holiday' (sic) is an acoustic meander through an elusive wonderland of pain and pulchritude. If you met Exquisite Corpse at a party, it would smell of dead roses and chain smoke, and you would be mesmerised.