Full Version: Laura Marling
That's all i can tell you for now.
Laura Marling is a folk-pop singer-songwriter from Reading, Berkshire, England.
Marling has toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK including Jamie T, who personally invited her on tour with him last year after he attended her second-ever gig.
She performed at this summer's 02 Wireless Festival [1] and also performed at the first Underage Music Festival in August 2007 at Victoria Park, East London.
Her debut single came out on WayOutWest Records, with a new single coming out soon on Virgin Records.
She appeared on The Rakes track Suspicious Eyes, from the band's second album Ten New Messages.
Marling has toured with a number of well-known indie artists in the UK including Jamie T, who personally invited her on tour with him last year after he attended her second-ever gig.
She performed at this summer's 02 Wireless Festival [1] and also performed at the first Underage Music Festival in August 2007 at Victoria Park, East London.
Her debut single came out on WayOutWest Records, with a new single coming out soon on Virgin Records.
She appeared on The Rakes track Suspicious Eyes, from the band's second album Ten New Messages.
'My songs are not pretty'
At the age of just 18, Laura Marling may be Britain's most promising singer-songwriter. She tells Jude Rogers about her dark, bold music
Watch the video for her song Ghosts in Quicktime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Video
Monday February 4, 2008
The Guardian
In a recent posting on a music website, one of Laura Marling's growing army of fans described her output as "pretty folk songs about boys". "That made me so angry," says Marling, her white-blonde hair held back in a clip, her thin frame wrapped in a trench coat. This girlish figure sitting opposite me in a west London cafe may have just turned 18, but her songs bear the experience of someone much more mature.
"No, no, seriously," she goes on. "Take another look. My songs are not pretty. They're what I call optimistic realism." She tips her head impishly. "Some are depressing, and I have depressive sides to my character, like most people, but I'm always telling myself to look on the bright side."
In a music scene teeming with talented young women, Marling stands apart as quite possibly Britain's most promising singer-songwriter. She's not a soul-influenced ingenue like Adele or Duffy, nor a pop performer in the style of Lily Allen or Kate Nash (with whom she has toured), but an accomplished performer in the folk vein. In fact, she manages to make folk feel modern. Her bold, dark songs recall Joni Mitchell or Neil Young, yet remain her own. She has already notched up a Glastonbury performance and, hilariously, was refused entry to her own gig at a London venue for being too young - so she busked outside instead.
Marling's music may dwell on life's difficulties, but her upbringing was far from such things. She was born in Eversley, near Reading, in 1990, the youngest of three girls. Her mother is a gardener, her father an amateur singer-songwriter. He taught Marling the guitar from the age of three, and forced all his daughters to listen to the 1960s folk records he loved: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan. "Dad would sit us down and say, 'This is real music!' I learned so much so young."
Marling started writing her own songs in her early teens. The turning point, she says, came when she heard I See a Darkness, the brooding 1999 album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the bleak, folk-influenced American singer-songwriter: "It was like a shock to the system." What did she love about it? "Its intensity. It was almost as if I shouldn't have been listening to it, as if I was invading his emotions."
But it was the American musicians Nina Nastasia and Diane Cluck who most inspired Marling, though she worried about her singing. The artists she loved had distinctive, evocative voices; she felt "like a girl from Reading". "So I tried to make it different, but I sounded like a knob. It took a lot of time and practice for me to realise that there's no point trying to be something you're not." Today, her voice is simple, strong and affecting, recalling the natural folk-rock voices of 1960s singers Sandy Denny and Jacqui McShee. Live, its power is astonishing, not least because it emerges from such a young, bashful-looking woman.
Marling started gigging three years ago. She played shows in the unlikely environs of Brentford FC, and attracted the attention of Virgin Records, which signed her in 2006 and is releasing her first album, Alas I Cannot Swim, today. One track on it, Tap at My Window, is inspired by a Philip Larkin poem, which makes it all the more surprising that Marling - whose image-rich lyrics suggest a love of literature - failed her English GCSE. "I loved books," she says, "but I didn't love tearing apart a character. I like building a character."
She gets a lot from books; her favourite authors are Jane Austen and the Brontës. "They're always made out to be so sweetly romantic, but they're not - they're brutal. I love the way you can fall in love with a piece of literature; how words alone can get your heart doing that." She admits to struggling with some writers, and pulls two books out of her bulky handbag to make her point: James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and comedian Russell Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook. "The Joyce is really interesting, but guess which one I've been reading today." She raises an eyebrow theatrically. "It's really well-written, though!"
For someone so young, Marling writes convincingly about breakdowns, tough emotions and sex. Her characters are strong, fighting to protect the people they hold close. One song on the album, Night Terror, contains a particularly affecting line about a lover having a nightmare: "I roll over and shake him tightly and whisper, if they want you, well, then they're gonna have to fight me." Marling admits the songs are personal, but will divulge nothing more. "It's just stream-of-consciousness stuff, really. And like everyone else, my consciousness has dark, jagged parts. Especially when it's four in the morning and something's happened and you have to write about it."
But if her songs are streams-of-consciousness, she sees the album as a single entity. "I really wanted it to be a coherent piece of work, with running themes about love and death and water. Like a journey, from songs about the distance between people, to the lift in the album's middle, and then back to distance again. Ha! I feel stupid saying that out loud."
Marling also differs from the average 18-year-old in her strong views about how music downloads have changed listeners' experience of music. "People don't appreciate music any more," she says, suddenly verging on anger. "They don't adore it. They don't buy vinyl and just love it. They love their laptops like their best friend, but they don't love a record for its sound quality and its artwork. I wanted to do something about it."
This confident approach - a striking combination of old-fashioned ethics and youthful idealism - has characterised Marling's career so far. Apart from her solo work, she sings and rattles maracas with the folk-rock band Noah & the Whale. Last year, she pointedly refused any studio makeup when she appeared on Later ... With Jools Holland, and she recorded her album in just one month.
She has also produced a special edition of it, called Songbox. Inside a wooden box, fans will find the album, a gig ticket and 12 mementoes to represent each song, including a board game. Listeners must work out which song each memento is for. "I wanted to show, in a physical way, how much work goes into an album," she says. With her own career now building momentum, Marling feels that this is a good time for new artists. "It's like the industry has come full circle," she says. "You feel it in the air. People are more willing to give you some time to develop, a chance to be who you are." That sounds like optimistic realism, I suggest. Marling's pale face lights up. "And don't we need more of it!".
· Alas I Cannot Swim is out now on Virgin
At the age of just 18, Laura Marling may be Britain's most promising singer-songwriter. She tells Jude Rogers about her dark, bold music
Watch the video for her song Ghosts in Quicktime, RealPlayer or Windows Media Video
Monday February 4, 2008
The Guardian
In a recent posting on a music website, one of Laura Marling's growing army of fans described her output as "pretty folk songs about boys". "That made me so angry," says Marling, her white-blonde hair held back in a clip, her thin frame wrapped in a trench coat. This girlish figure sitting opposite me in a west London cafe may have just turned 18, but her songs bear the experience of someone much more mature.
"No, no, seriously," she goes on. "Take another look. My songs are not pretty. They're what I call optimistic realism." She tips her head impishly. "Some are depressing, and I have depressive sides to my character, like most people, but I'm always telling myself to look on the bright side."
In a music scene teeming with talented young women, Marling stands apart as quite possibly Britain's most promising singer-songwriter. She's not a soul-influenced ingenue like Adele or Duffy, nor a pop performer in the style of Lily Allen or Kate Nash (with whom she has toured), but an accomplished performer in the folk vein. In fact, she manages to make folk feel modern. Her bold, dark songs recall Joni Mitchell or Neil Young, yet remain her own. She has already notched up a Glastonbury performance and, hilariously, was refused entry to her own gig at a London venue for being too young - so she busked outside instead.
Marling's music may dwell on life's difficulties, but her upbringing was far from such things. She was born in Eversley, near Reading, in 1990, the youngest of three girls. Her mother is a gardener, her father an amateur singer-songwriter. He taught Marling the guitar from the age of three, and forced all his daughters to listen to the 1960s folk records he loved: Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan. "Dad would sit us down and say, 'This is real music!' I learned so much so young."
Marling started writing her own songs in her early teens. The turning point, she says, came when she heard I See a Darkness, the brooding 1999 album by Bonnie "Prince" Billy, the bleak, folk-influenced American singer-songwriter: "It was like a shock to the system." What did she love about it? "Its intensity. It was almost as if I shouldn't have been listening to it, as if I was invading his emotions."
But it was the American musicians Nina Nastasia and Diane Cluck who most inspired Marling, though she worried about her singing. The artists she loved had distinctive, evocative voices; she felt "like a girl from Reading". "So I tried to make it different, but I sounded like a knob. It took a lot of time and practice for me to realise that there's no point trying to be something you're not." Today, her voice is simple, strong and affecting, recalling the natural folk-rock voices of 1960s singers Sandy Denny and Jacqui McShee. Live, its power is astonishing, not least because it emerges from such a young, bashful-looking woman.
Marling started gigging three years ago. She played shows in the unlikely environs of Brentford FC, and attracted the attention of Virgin Records, which signed her in 2006 and is releasing her first album, Alas I Cannot Swim, today. One track on it, Tap at My Window, is inspired by a Philip Larkin poem, which makes it all the more surprising that Marling - whose image-rich lyrics suggest a love of literature - failed her English GCSE. "I loved books," she says, "but I didn't love tearing apart a character. I like building a character."
She gets a lot from books; her favourite authors are Jane Austen and the Brontës. "They're always made out to be so sweetly romantic, but they're not - they're brutal. I love the way you can fall in love with a piece of literature; how words alone can get your heart doing that." She admits to struggling with some writers, and pulls two books out of her bulky handbag to make her point: James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, and comedian Russell Brand's autobiography, My Booky Wook. "The Joyce is really interesting, but guess which one I've been reading today." She raises an eyebrow theatrically. "It's really well-written, though!"
For someone so young, Marling writes convincingly about breakdowns, tough emotions and sex. Her characters are strong, fighting to protect the people they hold close. One song on the album, Night Terror, contains a particularly affecting line about a lover having a nightmare: "I roll over and shake him tightly and whisper, if they want you, well, then they're gonna have to fight me." Marling admits the songs are personal, but will divulge nothing more. "It's just stream-of-consciousness stuff, really. And like everyone else, my consciousness has dark, jagged parts. Especially when it's four in the morning and something's happened and you have to write about it."
But if her songs are streams-of-consciousness, she sees the album as a single entity. "I really wanted it to be a coherent piece of work, with running themes about love and death and water. Like a journey, from songs about the distance between people, to the lift in the album's middle, and then back to distance again. Ha! I feel stupid saying that out loud."
Marling also differs from the average 18-year-old in her strong views about how music downloads have changed listeners' experience of music. "People don't appreciate music any more," she says, suddenly verging on anger. "They don't adore it. They don't buy vinyl and just love it. They love their laptops like their best friend, but they don't love a record for its sound quality and its artwork. I wanted to do something about it."
This confident approach - a striking combination of old-fashioned ethics and youthful idealism - has characterised Marling's career so far. Apart from her solo work, she sings and rattles maracas with the folk-rock band Noah & the Whale. Last year, she pointedly refused any studio makeup when she appeared on Later ... With Jools Holland, and she recorded her album in just one month.
She has also produced a special edition of it, called Songbox. Inside a wooden box, fans will find the album, a gig ticket and 12 mementoes to represent each song, including a board game. Listeners must work out which song each memento is for. "I wanted to show, in a physical way, how much work goes into an album," she says. With her own career now building momentum, Marling feels that this is a good time for new artists. "It's like the industry has come full circle," she says. "You feel it in the air. People are more willing to give you some time to develop, a chance to be who you are." That sounds like optimistic realism, I suggest. Marling's pale face lights up. "And don't we need more of it!".
· Alas I Cannot Swim is out now on Virgin
a worrying symptom of my growing addiction to limited editions (in rainbows, quaristice + this in a couple of months), i just took delivery of the songbox version of this, i'd only heard night terror and seen her as part of noah and the whale supporting bss before that but i'm thinking this was a good purchase, very nice set, lovely, i can smell ink, £17 for all this plus a gig ticket, fantastiche
oh and the music sounds b00tiful so far too
oh and the music sounds b00tiful so far too
Yeah it's a good deal and I was glad to see the effort made with it, I didn't realise the actual disc wasn't out today.
nearly finished, not one miss yet. they've rerecorded night terror, big percussion and more strings and the ambient sounds linking songs were something i wasn't expecting, doesn't seem to take anything away from it though.
very good first listen, and i realized i knew my manic & i too, but not well enough to know if it's a rerecording
very good first listen, and i realized i knew my manic & i too, but not well enough to know if it's a rerecording
'Failure' is a re-recording, I can't recall if the album has a new version of MM&I but I'm leaning towards yes, I'll check tonight.
She also was on Stephen Merchant's BBC6 Music show (from about 1:05 onwards) on Sunday.
Hear/preview every track here
I got my ticket for the Union Chapel concert online now.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Feb 11 2008, 07:51 PM) [snapback]575484[/snapback]
I got my ticket for the Union Chapel concert online now.
Over subscribed so now I'm going on the 9th.
And I thought I was the king of the masturbatory threads. I should check this chick out. Would I like her, mitch?
Actually you might, it's much closer to sounding like Joni Mitchell than Lily Allen.
Ghosts
Crawled Out Of The Sea
Night Terror
Ghosts
Crawled Out Of The Sea
Night Terror
i would go as far as to say anyone who doesn't like this is somehow under the influence of satan 
second best reccud of the year and surprisingly not that far behind bsp at all. i mean i have only had it 3 days, but i've played it over ten times, its seriously addictive
second best reccud of the year and surprisingly not that far behind bsp at all. i mean i have only had it 3 days, but i've played it over ten times, its seriously addictive
It's a little too slow for my taste, but it is certainly very good. I think if her voice was more intriguing I'd love it, but it's kind of boring.
QUOTE(Alright Still @ Feb 14 2008, 05:43 PM) [snapback]578843[/snapback]
It's a little too slow for my taste, but it is certainly very good. I think if her voice was more intriguing I'd love it, but it's kind of boring.
i was surprised by how jaunty a lot of it was actually, mind i was coming at it expecting a folk reccud, i reckon a lot of people will hear of her name dropped with all these other new(ish) young british girl poppers and they would find it a bit slow in comparison.
i think it's a gorgeous reccud though
QUOTE
new(ish)
Read this as jewish first time, confused me.
album went in at 45.
QUOTE(Alright Still @ Feb 14 2008, 12:43 PM) [snapback]578843[/snapback]
It's a little too slow for my taste, but it is certainly very good. I think if her voice was more intriguing I'd love it, but it's kind of boring.
I'm a cunt. I fucking LOVE this album now. I love how it all flows together. The lyrics are genius, and her vocals are insanely captivating. "Ghosts" is EPIC.
Young Love
Never seems to last
Far too young
Until they have a past
Playing games
People move so fast
You don't need eyes to see
If someones got a heart of glass
has to be deliberate with her new haircut that the video cuts away from her at that point.
wow, this is really excellent.
Just(ish) got back from seeing her this evening and even spoke to her afterwards for longer than I would normally comfortably talk to an 18 year old girl at my age ("Did you know you are my avatar on Sound Opinions?" was at the bottom of things to talk about)
Will write more later but it was really good.
Will write more later but it was really good.
Awesome. I'm obsessed with her. I really wanna see her live.
OK dokey, Firstly the song box idea and ticket system seemed to work pretty well no problems with getting in with the e-mail and the barcode scanner. Union Chapel is a great venue for quieter music (I can see why tickets for the Goldfrapp gig there are changing hands for astronomical prices.) there’s no alcohol in the chapel (although I crammed a few pints in before the gig watching football across the road and in the bar beforehand) and you have to sit on pews which adds to the reverence of the surroundings. Missed the first support as I was in the bar. Johnny Flynn had a double page spread in the NME this week, apparently so it was nice to check him / them out other than on his MySpace page. He played with The Sussex Wit and I they had a rarefied Gaelic/ Cornish folksy sound (He played a ukulele and a banjo at various points) and the songs were quite bouncy and rousing, one to keep an eye on I’d think as he’s quite young. One thing that did capture my attention was that with the set up and the female backing singer being front stage almost sharing vocals (when not playing flute) made me think of Johnny and June Carter Cash and I was hoping for some shared flirtatious glances and knowing smiles. After three songs he introduced the band including Libby on backing vocals, his sister. Put pay to that idea.
Laura herself played nearly the whole album bar “Failure” and “The Captain and The Hourglass”. Shame about “The Captain…” as it’s one of my favourite tracks on the album (really does sound like a Saddle Creek song) but I wasn’t expecting “Failure”, nor “New Romantic” as they are fairly old tracks. Considering that she is often quoted as being really nervous of playing in front of large crowds (probably 500 people there last night) to open solo with “Shine” was not what was expecting, she pretty much endeared herself to the building by coming on stage and saying “Hi, I’m Laura”. After that the band came on for “Ghosts” onward and they were joined by a string section which really boosted the outros to many songs to the extent that the end of “You’re No God” almost sounded like Arcade Fire with the percussion and violin player. Other highlights were moving from” Cross Your Fingers” straight into “Crawled Out Of The Sea” (which always reminds me of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All”) and the way the band made “Night Terror” sound like Radiohead’s “Climbing Up The Walls” with the droning violin and drumming in the setting of the chapel was a little disconcerting.
Before “Tap At My Window” while Laura tuned a guitar she asked the drummer to talk to everyone and he obliged by asking a women for her phone number at the back after she said something, slightly surreal considering the setting and number of older people in the audience. After saying the band didn’t do encores as they didn’t like to stand at the side of the stage and wait in view for applause there was a rapturous applause after which Laura pointed out there was one more song left before the encore anyway.
(stolen from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gourou/232270...7604080277220/)
Union Chapel, London 9/3/08 setlist
Shine (solo)
Ghosts
Old Stone
Tap At My Window
You’re No God
Cross Your Fingers
Crawled Out Of The Sea
My Manic & I
Night Terror
{fake encore}
Your Only Doll (Dora)
------------------------
Alas I Cannot Swim
Alas I Cannot Swim (reprise)
So after another couple of avoid the tube rush drinks I managed to have a quick chat with Laura; telling her shorter hair looks nice, that the idea for the tour was a really good one and that she’s great. With that out the way we ended up talking about SXSW and her gigs in Scandanavia (I’m in Oslo the same weekend so I said I’d come to see her) then, as she’s from, where I live we got on to slagging off pubs and venues in Reading. Found her very easy to approach and talk to and she seemed interested in talking to people and not just waiting to escape.
Best of all though I think I saw Bill Oddie there.
Laura herself played nearly the whole album bar “Failure” and “The Captain and The Hourglass”. Shame about “The Captain…” as it’s one of my favourite tracks on the album (really does sound like a Saddle Creek song) but I wasn’t expecting “Failure”, nor “New Romantic” as they are fairly old tracks. Considering that she is often quoted as being really nervous of playing in front of large crowds (probably 500 people there last night) to open solo with “Shine” was not what was expecting, she pretty much endeared herself to the building by coming on stage and saying “Hi, I’m Laura”. After that the band came on for “Ghosts” onward and they were joined by a string section which really boosted the outros to many songs to the extent that the end of “You’re No God” almost sounded like Arcade Fire with the percussion and violin player. Other highlights were moving from” Cross Your Fingers” straight into “Crawled Out Of The Sea” (which always reminds me of ABBA’s “The Winner Takes It All”) and the way the band made “Night Terror” sound like Radiohead’s “Climbing Up The Walls” with the droning violin and drumming in the setting of the chapel was a little disconcerting.
Before “Tap At My Window” while Laura tuned a guitar she asked the drummer to talk to everyone and he obliged by asking a women for her phone number at the back after she said something, slightly surreal considering the setting and number of older people in the audience. After saying the band didn’t do encores as they didn’t like to stand at the side of the stage and wait in view for applause there was a rapturous applause after which Laura pointed out there was one more song left before the encore anyway.
(stolen from http://www.flickr.com/photos/gourou/232270...7604080277220/)
Union Chapel, London 9/3/08 setlist
Shine (solo)
Ghosts
Old Stone
Tap At My Window
You’re No God
Cross Your Fingers
Crawled Out Of The Sea
My Manic & I
Night Terror
{fake encore}
Your Only Doll (Dora)
------------------------
Alas I Cannot Swim
Alas I Cannot Swim (reprise)
So after another couple of avoid the tube rush drinks I managed to have a quick chat with Laura; telling her shorter hair looks nice, that the idea for the tour was a really good one and that she’s great. With that out the way we ended up talking about SXSW and her gigs in Scandanavia (I’m in Oslo the same weekend so I said I’d come to see her) then, as she’s from, where I live we got on to slagging off pubs and venues in Reading. Found her very easy to approach and talk to and she seemed interested in talking to people and not just waiting to escape.
Best of all though I think I saw Bill Oddie there.
sounds marvellous, i'm so irked that i botched my free ticket
I'm sure I can give you a heads up when she plays again over here.
Any more converts? Sask, Elco, Slackmo, Elemeno, Dr Jimmy?
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 04:14 PM) [snapback]601298[/snapback]
Any more converts? Sask, Elco, Slackmo, Elemeno, Dr Jimmy?
Bobzilla, but I think I posted that somewhere else before. Maybe in a salmon or new releases thread?
There have been a lot of good albums so far this year, but this one is a particular pleasure to go back to. It sort of fits in everywhere all the time, at least everywhere I am. Timeless, you might say. Talent galore. Free of fads and trends. And 18 y.o.? Jeezus.
I'm hoping the same luck of wishing upon a live Chicago show that I had with Lykke Li materializes by my posting that wish right here. Schubas in May, Laura. It's going to happen...it's going to happen...it's going to happen...make it happen.
haven't really gotten into the record TOO much yet, but hoping to catch at least one of her sets down in Austin
I knew Bobzilla was on board, think it was the relases thread. Nothing more pleasent than getting to the bird song at the end while walking anywhere.
I hope you do, I told her last night there were people I know in the US that wanted to see her at SXSW.
If I talk to her in Oslo I'll ask about a Chicago show.
QUOTE(solace @ Mar 10 2008, 09:31 PM) [snapback]601322[/snapback]
haven't really gotten into the record TOO much yet, but hoping to catch at least one of her sets down in Austin
I hope you do, I told her last night there were people I know in the US that wanted to see her at SXSW.
If I talk to her in Oslo I'll ask about a Chicago show.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 03:14 PM) [snapback]601298[/snapback]
Any more converts? Sask, Elco, Slackmo, Elemeno, Dr Jimmy?
I'm a part of the fan club now. I can't wait to see where she goes next.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 06:22 PM) [snapback]601464[/snapback]
I hope you do, I told her last night there were people I know in the US that wanted to see her at SXSW.
she's playing some really odd/weird showcases/day parties, so if I do go it'll be simply to see her
Glad to have more people on board, it's not just about the Obama train. Woo woo!
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 12:26 PM) [snapback]600550[/snapback]
I'm sure I can give you a heads up when she plays again over here.
Looks like there will be announcement on new dates quite soon.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 11 2008, 10:47 PM) [snapback]602647[/snapback]
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 12:26 PM) [snapback]600550[/snapback]
I'm sure I can give you a heads up when she plays again over here.
Looks like there will be announcement on new dates quite soon.
They were for supporting Adam Green on a number of dates in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy and Spain this April and May
22, Berlin, Huxleys, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
26, WUK, Vienna, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
27, Konzertau, Luzern, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
28, Reithalle, Basel, 7pm
29, Kaufleuten, Zurich, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
May 2008
01, Circolo degli Artisti, Rome, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
02, Garage, Milan, 7pm
04, Razzmatazz 2, Barcelona, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
05, Sala Heineken, Madrid, 7pm
* Supporting Adam Green
QUOTE
Laura Marling
**** Union Chapel, London
Betty Clarke
Tuesday March 11, 2008
The Guardian
Eschewing the mouthy pop and cockney-accented indie of her contemporaries, 18-year-old Laura Marling is fast becoming an anti-folk sensation. Schooled by her father in the songs of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, and having discovered the dark delights of Nina Nastasia and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Marling is a very modern troubadour who sings bold and literate missives from the trenches of adolescence.
Much has been made of the maturity of her music, but when Marling appears on stage, she is a typical teen. Pale-faced, her white-blonde hair glowing against a plaid lumberjack shirt and prerequisite skinny jeans set off by red ballet pumps, she bares more than a passing resemblance to supermodel du jour Agyness Deyn.
Her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, sighs with the world-weariness of a survivor and speeds along with the impatience of a girl with a lot to say. Grasping an acoustic guitar, she wastes no time driving into the all-consuming love of Shine, her words simple but devastating, her angelic voice making the most of the chapel's acoustics.
But despite the upfront honesty of Marling's songs, she is painfully shy, visibly relaxing when her eight-piece band join her. Comprised of keyboards, bass, violinist, a string section Marling calls "the Fiddlettes" and multi-talented drummer and backing singer Marcus Mumford, the band bring Marling's small songs, especially Night Terror and Old Stone, to lush, sweeping crescendos.
Squirming at the idea of "standing at the side of the stage, waiting for an encore", she suffers through rapturous cheers from the crowd and following the spirited hoe-down of Alas, I Cannot Swim, she sprints away as fast as her legs will take her.
**** Union Chapel, London
Betty Clarke
Tuesday March 11, 2008
The Guardian
Eschewing the mouthy pop and cockney-accented indie of her contemporaries, 18-year-old Laura Marling is fast becoming an anti-folk sensation. Schooled by her father in the songs of Joni Mitchell and Joan Baez, and having discovered the dark delights of Nina Nastasia and Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Marling is a very modern troubadour who sings bold and literate missives from the trenches of adolescence.
Much has been made of the maturity of her music, but when Marling appears on stage, she is a typical teen. Pale-faced, her white-blonde hair glowing against a plaid lumberjack shirt and prerequisite skinny jeans set off by red ballet pumps, she bares more than a passing resemblance to supermodel du jour Agyness Deyn.
Her debut album, Alas, I Cannot Swim, sighs with the world-weariness of a survivor and speeds along with the impatience of a girl with a lot to say. Grasping an acoustic guitar, she wastes no time driving into the all-consuming love of Shine, her words simple but devastating, her angelic voice making the most of the chapel's acoustics.
But despite the upfront honesty of Marling's songs, she is painfully shy, visibly relaxing when her eight-piece band join her. Comprised of keyboards, bass, violinist, a string section Marling calls "the Fiddlettes" and multi-talented drummer and backing singer Marcus Mumford, the band bring Marling's small songs, especially Night Terror and Old Stone, to lush, sweeping crescendos.
Squirming at the idea of "standing at the side of the stage, waiting for an encore", she suffers through rapturous cheers from the crowd and following the spirited hoe-down of Alas, I Cannot Swim, she sprints away as fast as her legs will take her.
No more bumps after this one, sorry for the pimping hard.
QUOTE (MitchellStirling @ Mar 10 2008, 06:22 PM) 
I hope you do, I told her last night there were people I know in the US that wanted to see her at SXSW.
Today, my friend and I went to a BBQ sponsored by Mojo to see Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip and, of course, for the free food / beer. Turns out L. Marling was on the bill as well, so we stayed around for her. My friend called her 20 minute set Jewel - like, which has some ring of truth to it, but that's not a bad thing.
We could have stayed for the Fuck Buttons, but we had to see Jay Reatard, who was going to be playing clear across town.
I wish I'd seen your above comment before Today, only to spark up one of those awkward conversations. "An internet person I know, who saw your show last weekend, highly rec seeing you"
She had a Spice Girls t-shirt on.
The samples are excellent. Is there a trout of this hidden somewhere?
Are you going to see her at Blå, Mitch? That's an awesome venue, great atmosphere.
Are you going to see her at Blå, Mitch? That's an awesome venue, great atmosphere.
Cool stuff w/wort. Would have been interesting to keep this conversation going back and forth across the world with me in Norway in two weeks and then whoever in Chicago whenever. I was trying to convince her to come back to Reading some time other than the festival but one venue shut last month and another she wasn't particularly keen on. I can just see a slither of Halliwell's hair on that t-shirt too (She wore that on Later last year), she had an Offspring one on a few weeks ago at a gig over here.
Yeah Sask, I'm seeing her in at Blå.
http://kokoro-datamp3.blogspot.com/2008/02...annot-swim.html
Still works.
Yeah Sask, I'm seeing her in at Blå.
http://kokoro-datamp3.blogspot.com/2008/02...annot-swim.html
Still works.
Couple of good YouTubes
My Manic & I (Live in Bristol)
Live on The Culture show from this Saturday just gone.
and a first appearance on Pitchfork!
My Manic & I (Live in Bristol)
Live on The Culture show from this Saturday just gone.
and a first appearance on Pitchfork!
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 16 2008, 11:39 AM) [snapback]607110[/snapback]
Cool stuff w/wort. Would have been interesting to keep this conversation going back and forth across the world with me in Norway in two weeks and then whoever in Chicago whenever. I was trying to convince her to come back to Reading some time other than the festival but one venue shut last month and another she wasn't particularly keen on. I can just see a slither of Halliwell's hair on that t-shirt too (She wore that on Later last year), she had an Offspring one on a few weeks ago at a gig over here.
Yeah Sask, I'm seeing her in at Blå.
http://kokoro-datamp3.blogspot.com/2008/02...annot-swim.html
Still works.
Yeah Sask, I'm seeing her in at Blå.
http://kokoro-datamp3.blogspot.com/2008/02...annot-swim.html
Still works.
Sask and anyone else a few hours behind me give me a nod if you want me to re-up after Kokoro's demise.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 18 2008, 06:48 PM) [snapback]609588[/snapback]
Sask and anyone else a few hours behind me give me a nod if you want me to re-up after Kokoro's demise.
Please! That'd be great.
QUOTE(Saskadelphia @ Mar 20 2008, 10:04 PM) [snapback]611338[/snapback]
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 18 2008, 06:48 PM) [snapback]609588[/snapback]
Sask and anyone else a few hours behind me give me a nod if you want me to re-up after Kokoro's demise.
Please! That'd be great.
seconded. i love that mystery jets track she's on.
yes please. i've just realised that i'll be seeing her on april 23. made my day!!
Not my link hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?1yimm02bbdj looks like it works though.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 21 2008, 06:01 AM) [snapback]611428[/snapback]
Not my link hxxp://www.mediafire.com/?1yimm02bbdj looks like it works though.
it does and thank you so much!! this album is great!
the more i listen to her album the more i like it.
QUOTE (Danse avec moi @ Mar 24 2008, 11:24 PM)
the more i listen to her album the more i like it.
Me too, this is catching BSP and moving into 9.x territory.
Madrox, Sask reports back?
More people need to hear this, if this doesn't make SOMB's top 100 EOY I'll be a
failure.
QUOTE(MitchellStirling @ Mar 24 2008, 07:19 PM) [snapback]613935[/snapback]
Madrox, Sask reports back?
Finally giving this a listen & I'm enjoying it alot so far. "Failure"
Thanks, Mitch. :]
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.