GIG REVIEW :::: DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP : TIM WELLS : THE VENTRILOQUIST : S J ESAU

GIG REVIEW :::: DAN LE SAC VS SCROOBIUS PIP : TIM WELLS : THE VENTRILOQUIST : S J ESAU
Current mood: SCROOBILICIOUS
Category: SCROOBILICIOUS Music

Tim Wells

Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip

S J Esau

The Ventriloquist

Penned in the Margins

@ The Spitz 15^th March 2007

It's a couple of hours before the gig and as we wait for Dan Le Sac to arrive to soundcheck, Scroobius Pip is telling me the thriving Spoken Word scene in London is about to blow up. This is good news. I've had my head so far up my ass I've not been to a spoken word night for years until a month previous, and I assumed it was still very much a marginal activity.

I mean it's a weird bastard is spoken word. It sits in between and over the tracks of comedy, poetry, hip hop and plain old story telling and the display at The Spitz amply demonstrated this varied diversity in it's full.

First on was Mr Tim Wells. Mr Wells delivers straight up poetry and on this occasion was preceded by a pole dancer gyrating to the more than mellow sounds of his royal highness Lee Scratch Perry. It was a peculiar start after which Wells related stories of the life and times of drunk London. Part anecdotal, part confessional his stuff didn't really grab me by the balls, but then it wasn't bad either.

Next it was Mr Scroobius P I P and Dan,.. Dan,.. Dan,.., Dan DAN!!! DANNN!!!!! DANNN!!!!!!!!!!! Le Sac.

Now, for my money this should have been the main event. Scroob and Le Sac were clearly responsible for pulling a large portion of the crowd and had the material and class to deserve centre stage, but due to their late addition to the bill and the size of the Ventriloquists orchestra this wasn't a go go.

So, unless you've had your head up your arse, you'll probably all know that 'Thou Shalt Always Kill' is one of the most memorable and just plain good pop songs of the year and it was duly delivered together with an excellent set containing punch, conviction and pretty power galore.

Make no mistake, Mr Pip is one hell of an orator and Mr Le Sac one hell of a music producer and together they're bringing us some proper pop music to wash away the pretenders with whom we've been cursed….

The only downside to this brilliance was that it made it a following on a very tough deal indeed for SJ Esau..

He gave it a good stab, playing as a one man electronic guitar loop band, but at times his hoops were almost drowned out by the chitter chatter and the technical problems of one type or another.

It was a weird atmosphere that continued into The Ventriloquists smooth and lounge jazztastic set. The thing was it seemed, once Le sac and Pip had taken their seats the crowd not only thinned, but whoever so remained seemed far more interested in their own spoken words than those of the on stage performers…

And perhaps this is the greatest barrier in the way of spoken word becoming the new rock 'n' roll: Talk is everywhere and talk is cheap. Certainly on this evidence, S W is most definitely evolving good and proper, but how far can it go?? This is the ????????

Currently listening : Pip By Keith John Adams

The 6ft 2in Pianist

Sounds like a familiar scene. I think that spoken word has the potential to 'go off', as long as the general public are able to judge those best to listen to. Scroobius Pip has been helped massively by Dan le Sac's imagination and skill, making the pairing's music impossible to ignore, much less chat through. Great review Posted by The 6ft 2in Pianist on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 01:11 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Thanks... Scroob has a great delivery and you did a very fine job this last Wednesday.. ALL OF YOU BUY THE FUCKIN SINGLE!!!!! Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Saturday, March 31, 2007 at 01:30 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	they came from the stars, i saw them	i finally heard the scroobius pip and kiss my sac record last night. So THAT is the record that recieved single of the week in nearly every single magazine the same week that Kite was almost totally ignored? Makes me fucking sick. Clever Cynical Shoreditch Cunts. and not even a tune. Wonder why it got so many glowing reviews. Today i want to give up more than ever Posted by they came from the stars, i saw them on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 12:28 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Clever and cynical maybe, but I'm a sucker for clever and cynical pop music - I mean aren't those the two characteristics that define most if not all 'pop' music if you look at it without the rose tints??....If the artists/performer aren't knowingly at it themselves, then the management/publicity/record company certainly are...I'm very hard pushed to think of a Number 1 or even a top ten record that stands free of contrivance and has any kind of innocence or purity... Why didn't your single didn't get more attention?? - I'm at a loss as to understand it, though I'm begining to wonder what the hell your management & record company do all day?? Shouldn't they be sorting this kind of thing out??? I mean if I'd put my heart and soul into something as good as The Unstopable Kite' and nothing happenned, I'd be directing my wrath and disappointment straight down the fucking phone line to them...You done your work..Have they been doing there's?? Giving up ain't gonna solve anything that's for damn sure..... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Friday, April 13, 2007 at 15:28 [Remove] [Reply to this]

	horton jupiter	nah, i totally disagree about this, doc. Great pop music is often Clever, sure, but there has to be a soul for it to be good pop music, and Pip just sounds up himself, making a record for all the wrong reasons. He's just not into music, he's into himself, and it shows. The Beach Boys - just a band, right - i'm all for tearing into our so cool heroes and all that. But someone like Brian Wilson goes to hell and back, kicking and screaming into the centre of the fires of creation and coming back with a bunch of something magical and profound and truthful and beautifully human to share with the world and...and...and all those other things. Then Scroobius Pip and his ilk shout "Bollocks!" really loud in the pub like borish pissed-up student tossers. Brilliant. 11 out of 10. As for the Stars, i don't think it's anyone's fault - Beauty just isn't cool anymore, as pip proves. Posted by horton jupiter on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 02:49 [Remove] [Reply to this]

: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :

Fucking cuntspace!! I had a beautiful hour long crafted retort and it's disappeared.. In brief it was this: Though i can see your point, 'Thou shalt always kill' has always struck me as trying to be light hearted, thought/discussion provoking and clever - I don't see it as cynical.. With reagrds to the 'Kite' I remain unconvinced by your record company and management. I don't think the quality of their work is matching yours. Maybe they're great people, but are they good gurerilla businessmen who get great records the response and adulation they deserve?? What's their track record? What's their ambition? Beauty is always in, but having beauty doesn't mean success...Plenty of beauty is never seen at all....To get your beauty seen requires good promotion, luck and timing.. The main thing I've taken from The KLF was the way they married guerilla business with great art. People like 'Plugger' Scott Piering were crucial to their success. One has to engage with capitalism, play it at it's rules and give it a sound thrashing or else be happy with no money obcsurity.. Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on Monday, April 16, 2007 at 11:10 [Remove] [Reply to this]