Monday, 27 July 2009
Fringe Indie Magazine
The Cat Empire review and inteview with Felix Riebl on Fringe Indie - http://www.fringeindiemagazine.com/
Wednesday, 15 July 2009
The Cat Empire @ Birmingham Academy
Published on http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/reviews/national/8300
The audience at the Cat Empire gig was almost as diverse as their music, with teenagers dancing alongside people old enough to be their parents and even their grandparents. The Australian group have toured with the late soul-legend James Brown and played at the opening of the Commonwealth Games 2006. From the moment they walked on stage it was easy to hear why – their 2 hour-long set was a tour-de-force of world music.
After a brief greeting from front-man Felix Reibl the brass launched into ‘Fishies’, with Harry Angus’ trumpet solo drawing loud cheers from the audience. The group then switched to laid-back reggae for ‘Days like These’, before moving on to the Eastern influences of ‘The Darkness’.
Their support act - Paprika Balkanicus – who play traditional music from the Balkans, joined the group onstage for ‘The Wine Song’. With the accordion and fiddle, the music sounded fuller than the version on their live album, where the chorus is accompanied solely by brass. “We’ve done four shows so far, it’s been one of the best [tours] I remember,” said Reibl, just before the gig, “I think the next album is going to do really well over here.”
The Cat Empire’s tribute to Michael Jackson came in their final song, ‘The Chariot’, which merged almost seamlessly into an instrumental version of ‘Billy Jean’. The crowd, amid whoops of delight, provided the vocals.
This was by far the best gig I have ever been to –the band has a unique style, there was not a note off-key and I never once saw the audience stop dancing.
Photo by Christopher Frankland.
For more information you can visit: http://www.thecatempire.com/
The audience at the Cat Empire gig was almost as diverse as their music, with teenagers dancing alongside people old enough to be their parents and even their grandparents. The Australian group have toured with the late soul-legend James Brown and played at the opening of the Commonwealth Games 2006. From the moment they walked on stage it was easy to hear why – their 2 hour-long set was a tour-de-force of world music.
After a brief greeting from front-man Felix Reibl the brass launched into ‘Fishies’, with Harry Angus’ trumpet solo drawing loud cheers from the audience. The group then switched to laid-back reggae for ‘Days like These’, before moving on to the Eastern influences of ‘The Darkness’.
Their support act - Paprika Balkanicus – who play traditional music from the Balkans, joined the group onstage for ‘The Wine Song’. With the accordion and fiddle, the music sounded fuller than the version on their live album, where the chorus is accompanied solely by brass. “We’ve done four shows so far, it’s been one of the best [tours] I remember,” said Reibl, just before the gig, “I think the next album is going to do really well over here.”
The Cat Empire’s tribute to Michael Jackson came in their final song, ‘The Chariot’, which merged almost seamlessly into an instrumental version of ‘Billy Jean’. The crowd, amid whoops of delight, provided the vocals.
This was by far the best gig I have ever been to –the band has a unique style, there was not a note off-key and I never once saw the audience stop dancing.
Photo by Christopher Frankland.
For more information you can visit: http://www.thecatempire.com/
Wednesday, 8 July 2009
The Cat Empire
Published on http://www.isthismusic.com/
Photograph by Christopher Frankland
They’ve supported the late soul-legend James Brown and played at the opening of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Now Australian group The Cat Empire have embarked on their European tour. Jenny Ross speaks to front-man Felix Reibl.
How would you describe The Cat Empire’s music to someone who hadn’t heard it before?
Honestly, I’d say that they should come to a show and see it because after people have seen the show they don’t feel the need to explain it. They just enjoy it. It’s very lively music, the musicians are very good. A world music band I suppose is the best way to describe it.
How do you go about writing your songs?
I write them pretty traditionally I think. I go out and experience things or read about things or listen to music or practise music and put words to harmonies and form good melodies that work. It’s one of the most wonderful things to be in a band and have people singing your choruses, so that’s something that’s really inspiring to do. So, when I write songs for this band I try and write choruses, but also leave the arrangement open enough for the musicians to do what they do well – improvisation.
Which track do you think sums up The Cat Empire?
I dunno. I think honestly it’s very difficult – people in the band all have different favourite songs. I suppose, for me, The Chariot probably sums it up the best. That’s a song that we will often finish shows with. It’s a sort of song I wrote for the audience and my friends in the audience. It’s an anti-war song.
What are your influences?
I think my ones…for mainly song-writing; Springsteen, Dylan – it’s pretty ‘60s actually. For the band, a lot of world music - Cuban stuff and Hernie Hancock and Thelonius Monk…James Brown. It was a huge honour to tour with James before he died. Marley. Marley was a big influence. And a lot of Australian music…Australia is a big one I think for the band as a whole. I think the album Below the Bassline, in our very very early days, was kind of interesting because it involved very simple phrases, simple melodies with sections you could open up. And also it’s amazing where influences can come for a band. I think cinema’s a huge one: the guys watch a lot of movies and I think cinema music has played a big part on some of the drama of the sections.
Has the tour gone well so far?
Very well. We’ve done four shows so far, it’s been one of the best one’s I remember, actually. We haven’t been on tour for over a year in the UK. It’s been at least 18 months since we’ve been here and in that time we made a live CD, but also took a lot of time off because we’ve just come off a long-term tour. I think that the live album marks the end of this period and we’re going to record another CD at the end of next year. I think it’s going to be a new chapter.
What can we expect from this new CD? Have you written any of the songs already?
Well I have got a lot of ideas. It’s going to be different, that’s all I can say. We’re going to try something really new and ambitious for the band. What it’s going to be I cannot say.
When you’re on tour do you ever request anything strange?
Like all blue M&Ms and stuff? Yeah, Ryan [Monro, bass guitarist] tried that! But we’re actually a pretty easy-going band in terms of requesting things.
Do you find audiences here different to those in Australia?
I think so. I mean, at the moment, because we haven’t been here for such a long time and in Australia the band’s been around for a long time. It makes it quite exciting because people are out discovering the band.
Do you ever wish that you could be a much bigger band in the UK?
Yeah, I wish I was playing at a stadium some nights. But I think that the band’s in a great position really, especially at the moment. I mean, we’re a well-known band and I remember when we started out playing small jazz clubs, just thinking that if 100 people arrived it would be pretty much the best thing ever…it’s all about perspective really. I think in Montreal a few years ago we played to 150,000 people, which was great and we’ve done huge festivals, so seeing oceans of people is wonderful. But in a band like this really it comes down to how fresh everyone’s feeling and how well we’re playing together and you can have an amazing show to 100 people or a great show to 10,000 people. I think the next album is going to do really well over here.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?
I’d like to create an album – the best album we’ve done with the band – that would be great, and see where that takes us.
The Cat Empire will be playing at Glasgow Academy on July 10 2009. More at http://www.thecatempire.com/.
Photograph by Christopher Frankland
They’ve supported the late soul-legend James Brown and played at the opening of the 2006 Commonwealth Games. Now Australian group The Cat Empire have embarked on their European tour. Jenny Ross speaks to front-man Felix Reibl.
How would you describe The Cat Empire’s music to someone who hadn’t heard it before?
Honestly, I’d say that they should come to a show and see it because after people have seen the show they don’t feel the need to explain it. They just enjoy it. It’s very lively music, the musicians are very good. A world music band I suppose is the best way to describe it.
How do you go about writing your songs?
I write them pretty traditionally I think. I go out and experience things or read about things or listen to music or practise music and put words to harmonies and form good melodies that work. It’s one of the most wonderful things to be in a band and have people singing your choruses, so that’s something that’s really inspiring to do. So, when I write songs for this band I try and write choruses, but also leave the arrangement open enough for the musicians to do what they do well – improvisation.
Which track do you think sums up The Cat Empire?
I dunno. I think honestly it’s very difficult – people in the band all have different favourite songs. I suppose, for me, The Chariot probably sums it up the best. That’s a song that we will often finish shows with. It’s a sort of song I wrote for the audience and my friends in the audience. It’s an anti-war song.
What are your influences?
I think my ones…for mainly song-writing; Springsteen, Dylan – it’s pretty ‘60s actually. For the band, a lot of world music - Cuban stuff and Hernie Hancock and Thelonius Monk…James Brown. It was a huge honour to tour with James before he died. Marley. Marley was a big influence. And a lot of Australian music…Australia is a big one I think for the band as a whole. I think the album Below the Bassline, in our very very early days, was kind of interesting because it involved very simple phrases, simple melodies with sections you could open up. And also it’s amazing where influences can come for a band. I think cinema’s a huge one: the guys watch a lot of movies and I think cinema music has played a big part on some of the drama of the sections.
Has the tour gone well so far?
Very well. We’ve done four shows so far, it’s been one of the best one’s I remember, actually. We haven’t been on tour for over a year in the UK. It’s been at least 18 months since we’ve been here and in that time we made a live CD, but also took a lot of time off because we’ve just come off a long-term tour. I think that the live album marks the end of this period and we’re going to record another CD at the end of next year. I think it’s going to be a new chapter.
What can we expect from this new CD? Have you written any of the songs already?
Well I have got a lot of ideas. It’s going to be different, that’s all I can say. We’re going to try something really new and ambitious for the band. What it’s going to be I cannot say.
When you’re on tour do you ever request anything strange?
Like all blue M&Ms and stuff? Yeah, Ryan [Monro, bass guitarist] tried that! But we’re actually a pretty easy-going band in terms of requesting things.
Do you find audiences here different to those in Australia?
I think so. I mean, at the moment, because we haven’t been here for such a long time and in Australia the band’s been around for a long time. It makes it quite exciting because people are out discovering the band.
Do you ever wish that you could be a much bigger band in the UK?
Yeah, I wish I was playing at a stadium some nights. But I think that the band’s in a great position really, especially at the moment. I mean, we’re a well-known band and I remember when we started out playing small jazz clubs, just thinking that if 100 people arrived it would be pretty much the best thing ever…it’s all about perspective really. I think in Montreal a few years ago we played to 150,000 people, which was great and we’ve done huge festivals, so seeing oceans of people is wonderful. But in a band like this really it comes down to how fresh everyone’s feeling and how well we’re playing together and you can have an amazing show to 100 people or a great show to 10,000 people. I think the next album is going to do really well over here.
Where do you see yourselves in 5 years time?
I’d like to create an album – the best album we’ve done with the band – that would be great, and see where that takes us.
The Cat Empire will be playing at Glasgow Academy on July 10 2009. More at http://www.thecatempire.com/.
Thursday, 2 July 2009
The Leave Me Alone Box
Written for www.geeks.co.uk
It may be not be the most useful gadget around, but the Leave Me Alone Box is certainly one of the funniest. So far the video of it on YouTube has had over 700,000 hits, and has been included in BBC Focus magazine.
Think of it as the grumpy teenager of the gadget world – click here to watch and enjoy.
It may be not be the most useful gadget around, but the Leave Me Alone Box is certainly one of the funniest. So far the video of it on YouTube has had over 700,000 hits, and has been included in BBC Focus magazine.
Think of it as the grumpy teenager of the gadget world – click here to watch and enjoy.
Monkey Island Returns
Written for www.geeks.co.uk
Arrr me lads – the wait be finally over!
Yes, get ready to put the old sword-fighting skills back into action as we join Guybrush Threepwood for Tales of Monkey Island; the final instalment in the legendary series of games.
When our hero inadvertently releases a pox, during a battle with his nemesis LeChuck, pirates start transforming into monsters. In order to stop the epidemic the Voodoo Lady sends Guybrush off to find a legendary sea-sponge, but the quest isn’t as straightforward as it seems…
Disappointingly, the game is not being released in stores but will be downloadable from the Telltale Games website from July 7 and from WiiWare at an unconfirmed date. There is a collectors’ DVD available, however, if you are prepared to pay for shipping.
In addition, LucasArts has announced that it will be re-releasing The Secret of Monkey Island® – the game that started it all – this summer. It has been completely re-mastered, so that the clunky graphics of old have now gone, to be replaced by hand-drawn images.
For screenshots and teasers galore please visit Telltale Games.
Arrr me lads – the wait be finally over!
Yes, get ready to put the old sword-fighting skills back into action as we join Guybrush Threepwood for Tales of Monkey Island; the final instalment in the legendary series of games.
When our hero inadvertently releases a pox, during a battle with his nemesis LeChuck, pirates start transforming into monsters. In order to stop the epidemic the Voodoo Lady sends Guybrush off to find a legendary sea-sponge, but the quest isn’t as straightforward as it seems…
Disappointingly, the game is not being released in stores but will be downloadable from the Telltale Games website from July 7 and from WiiWare at an unconfirmed date. There is a collectors’ DVD available, however, if you are prepared to pay for shipping.
In addition, LucasArts has announced that it will be re-releasing The Secret of Monkey Island® – the game that started it all – this summer. It has been completely re-mastered, so that the clunky graphics of old have now gone, to be replaced by hand-drawn images.
For screenshots and teasers galore please visit Telltale Games.
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