Let's Eat Grandma

[RobB]

Let's Eat Grandma are a recent discovery of mine.
Having read a positive review of their still to be released second album, I'm All Ears, I promptly purchased their debut from two years ago, I Gemini'.
After a few weeks of playing the debut to the exclusion of all else, I then purchased its follow up at my first opportunity. The two 17 years old were now two 19 year olds and the music has grown up a little too.

From I'm All Ears, my favourite track, Donnie Darko. Its a great track for playing loud whilst driving.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvMirCfy1HU

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[sound world]

I read about them the other day...an article in the Guardian music pages.

I also noticed that they're on at the Larmer Tree Festival, which is a very middle-class affair where punky teen girls singing about Eating Grandmothers might cause a stir...

I had a listen to Donnie Darko - I liked it though I think it's a bit too long. Maybe it's because I don't drive....
I like the way they're using old synths and stuff, and go for banging rock beats.

Talking of old synths, anyone here like Boards of Canada? I've been enjoying some of their stuff lately.

[RobB]

Is it me or is there a Beach Boys 'Barbara Ann' riff through most of 'Donnie Darko'? Right from the beginning I can almost squeeze a Ba Ba Ba,Bar-bara Ann in it !!

I really need to heck out of Boards of Canada out as I've read a lot of positive things about them for years without ever hearing anything by them.

The Guardian eh? That's a big leap from the Beano, Dave?

A personal fave from LEG's debut, this track one is called Repunzel....and the good news is that its only half the length of Donnie Darko.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NG_q2NoP7dk

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[sound world]

You'll like Boards of Canada if you like electro-ambience like Tangerine Dream, Eno etc. Some of their stuff is a tad creepy by association with references to things like the Branch Dravidian cult - but there's also snippets of children's telly, found cassettes etc. I think they just like mixing it all up.
BTW they're nothing to do with Canada but two brothers from Norfolk who have just always messed around with technology since their teens; the 'Boards of Canada' is a reference to the National Film Board of Canada who made a lot of those wonderful nature docus and the like in the 60s, beloved of the brothers.

Talking of Barbara Ann, I once had a friend called Anne Barber. She got a letter one day addressed to 'Barber Anne' - and the postman pencilled 'Ba-barber Anne' onto the end of her name!

[RobB]

BTW they're nothing to do with Canada but two brothers from Norfolk who have just always messed around with technology since their teens;

I never knew that, I had assumed they came from Canada. By sheer coincidence, the girls from Let's Eat Grandma come from Norwich,...in Norfolk of course. But they're friends and not sisters

Talking of Barbara Ann, I once had a friend called Anne Barber. She got a letter one day addressed to 'Barber Anne' - and the postman pencilled 'Ba-barber Anne' onto the end of her name!

I wonder how often she's had Barbara Ann sung to her through her life?

[RobB]

I haven't been overkeen on their promo films so far but I like this one.
Deep Six Textbook...the moody opening track on I Gemini.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ3tmmkr3sg

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[RobB]

Finally got to see Let's Eat Grandma in live performance last Thursday, at the Heaven club, a large cellar beneath London's Charring Cross main line railway station. Virtually playing their second album (I'm All Ears) in full ,they handled all the vocals and instruments (continually swapping between keyboards, saxophone, electric guitar...and recorder) themselves, although they werer joined by a drummer for the performance. Their stage performances are quite unique to say the least. There's not many artists who will sit cross legged on the stage and watch their audience (while the trusty laptop and drummer performs behind them), flop down and lay on the stage,stand up and play school playground pat-a-cake games, or even (in the case of Jenny) run into the audience,dance around,and then climb back on stage again !!

Their debut album, I, Gemini, was written when they were 14, recorded at 15 and released at 17. Now promoting their second album at the grand old ages of 19, I'm hopeful that they have a long and successful career in front of them.

[RobB]

Very encouraging that LEG's second album, I'm All Ears, received the QAwards 'Best album of 2018' award recently.

[RobB]

Recently LEG have released a couple of singles from their forthcoming album Two Ribbons. That'll be out in April next year. In September the first single, Hall of Mirrors, was released and this was followed earlier this month with the title track.

Two Ribbons




'Hall of Mirrors'





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[RobB]

Anyone for tennis?

[RobB]

The latest single,Levitation.....I love this video.

[sound world]

Nice song - quite 80s with all those synth riffs and electro drums.
And the video is cool - although it reminds me of that Marx Brothers film - Duck Soup, is it? where there's a mirror image sequence.

Of course it's on Youtube:-

[RobB]

Thanks for the link Dave, I hadn't seen that Marx Brothers film or clip before. Given its age its certainly very clever.

[RobB]

So since my last post I've seen Let's Eat Grandma live a further three times this year, once in May in London, and twice in November, in London yet again and in Norwich,three days later. Footage of the Norwich gig has appeared on You Tube (naturally?) and (shock,horror), I'm very briefly (for about two seconds ) seen in it. My cameo appearance is at the 5:42 mark...I'm the old guy who doesn't know which way to turn.
The song is the encore, 'Donnie Darko'. Amusingly when Jenny ( in the dress) returns to the stage, she's seen desperately hunting around for her recorder which she'd unknowingly kicked across the stage two songs earlier. Being at the front by the stage we saw what happened and had made several attempts to attract Jenny's attention to let her know where it had ended up,which was down to the left of the drum kit. Unfortunately the wearing of in-ear monitors meant she couldn't hear us calling her name (nor did she see us waving and gesturing towards the recorder),but in the end,she did locate it in time for her solo.

I do love these intimate gigs where your right up against the stage as opposed to the arena gigs I've been to in the past where your a hundred feet away (if your lucky),looking up at large screens to see what's happening on stage.

[blue]

Oh I see you! Looking good for a 97 year old Rob, wonderful that you're still getting out to gigs.

I like the girl at the beginning having a lay down on the stage, it must get tiring playing gigs.