Boats on the Lake

St. Vincent, Manchester Deaf Institute, 12th November

Tension mounted as the band climbed the stage in silence last Saturday night but when the first chord of ‘Surgeon’ struck it was apparent that this would be a fantastic gig.

Annie Clark has been producing records under the name St. Vincent since 2006 and not without her share of critical and commercial success. Her first two albums, ‘Marry Me’ and ‘Actor’, offer an intense knowledge of genre and style, mixing jazz, punk and classical influences. Having dropped out of the Berkley College of Music for her belief that artistic expression cannot be taught as it were, Clark’s music confidently flows through time signatures and keys, mutating with sentiment of the melody rather than appearing like something factory made. Her second album brought her commercial success, with appearances on the David Letterman show and reaching #90 in the Billboard charts. Yet, it is with her latest album ‘Strange Mercy’ that Clark’s face began to adorn magazine covers, this time peaking at #19.

With this album St. Vincent has ‘gone electric’ with Moogs and keyboards replacing the violins of her earlier live bands. The heavy synth sounds of ‘Cheerleader’ and the choral opening to ‘Neutered Fruit’ present a more focused direction in terms of ambience. Opening and singing backing vocals, Cate Le Bon’s performance made for a winning addition to the bill: contrasting the electronic edge but rivaling St. Vincent's virtuoso singing. 
Despite her nerves, which appeared more from charm than lack of practise, Clark’s voice and musical prowess shined through. Stopping every three or four songs to explain a literary reference or apologise for infringing child labour laws whilst filming the video for her latest single ‘Cruel’, she was able to remain witty whilst engaging the audience on a critical level. 

As ever, it was her music that made the biggest impact on the crowd, with her tightly knit group and wide array of sounds. The small yet charming venue of Manchester’s Deaf Institute was perfect for the resonant tones of the instruments and their effect-laden grandeur.  Clark’s guitar playing was particularly impressive, at times soft and minimalist and at other times raucous. The atmosphere was most feverish when playing ‘Your Lips Are Red’, she descended the stage and walked through the crowd, offering her guitar up to myself and others who would pluck a string or slide a beer bottle along the neck in vain attempts to be part of the music. It was fair to say that Clark was at ease with the tongue-in-cheek nature of a rock concert.

In summation, the concert was a remarkable representation of St. Vincent’s work, frequently leaping between albums and fitting the songs to the sound of the band, bringing to question whether Clark sounds better on or off record. With her wide-eyed sincerity and tour anecdotes, she easily made the event one of intimacy. Overall, St. Vincent proved that there is still a market for inventive and experimental music and that live music is as powerful as ever.

Sushi recipe: Tom's Teriyaki Salmon

Me and Tom made some delicious sushi.

Here's a quick recipe if you want to go for some yourself.

Teriyaki sauce: 

1/3 cup Saki

1/3 cup Dark Soy sauce

1/3 cup Chinese Cooking Wine (or Mirin)

1 tbsp Sugar (heaped)

1tsp Toasted Sesame Seeds

Since we couldn’t get fresh enough salmon we cooked it in a teriyaki sauce. It was simple to make using the above ingredients in pan, reducing with heat.

We made some pretty kick-ass tempura shrimp; you may want to try that one too. When making the batter remember that lumpiness is a quality you’ll be looking for, makes for a nicer crunch. Also if you can use iced sparkling water, we’re not millionaires, so we didn’t.

Tempura batter:

Egg Yolk

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup iced water

As for the maki, that’s really up to you. The basics you’ll need are sushi rice and nori (lightly toast in a dry frying pan: seriously only about a minute or so, shiny side down). Pat the rice down on the non-shiny side of the nori, leaving about an inch of empty space at the top. Then load up your maki with whatever fillings you might want: crab sticks, shrimp, sliced cucumber or avocado, like I said, whatever: go nuts. Then roll up that bad-boy on your sushi mat, moisten the inch of nori you left empty and seal the deal. Delicious.

Serve with saki, green tea (for drinking) and soy sauce (for dipping).

It was delicious, go for it- totally do-able.

"Yardbird" Parker

With fluent mind and fluid tongue,

hair starched straight with curls undone,

lascivious shirts and wanton sweat divide and rule.

The straights are cut by malt and rye,

in tangled dance of hook and eye,

considerate smiles are sewn-on with their charm.

Youth convinced by occult folk,

swimming in their trails of smoke.

Ginsberg sits howling, dog-eared and coffee-ringed.

Piercing the confederacy of the crowd

a lone bird sings aloud

the lament of longing, winters flown in native heat

And the smuggled scented matchstick mass,

that pour over a bud of grass,

deaf to the sound of Parker’s heroin blues

Where western trim is ruffled smooth

by blue tones and tribal grooves:

untied kinks that dance on cloth - unwritten rules and Windsor knot.

Still young and in a Stanhope suite,

to the sound of a still, sombre beat,

the sax was silenced- the bird had flown.

Yet calling from the subway walls

to the echoed sounds of Massey Hall,

the yard-bird’s notes tell of the changing wind.

Matryoshka