The Tallest Man on Earth showcased his genius on Later With Jools Holland a couple of weeks ago performing ‘King of Spain’ with that unmistakable dolorous charm and surely inspiring many a viewer to drop their cheesecake and gawp. I didn’t realise, until today, that he had also performed ‘Love is All’ as a web exclusive earlier on and I must admit, the discovery was more satisfying than punching a fat person in the stomach. I posted a while back about how amazing Mattson is live so it’s always good to be able to share such beautiful evidence. Enjoy!
Despite buying three tickets and being utterly fascinated by every one of his releases to date, I somehow managed to miss The Tallest Man on Earth last time he toured the UK. On this occasion however, I was determined to affect a different outcome and set plans in place to ensure I did not neglect him once more. So, accompanied by my girlfriend, I battled my way to the shining lights of Leeds through freezing wind and hints of snow wondering if my Swedish folk eidolon was finding England’s increasingly biting climate just a little bit homely.
Arriving as the doors opened, we huddled cosily in the warmth of Brudenell Social Club and after a cold beer and some speculation, were greeted by unexpectedly beautiful support in the form of Idiot Wind. Solo with nothing but the comfort of a piano, Amanda Bergman’s voice shone with dolorous charm and immediately silenced the crowd, as we watched this accidental beauty in awe. A short set later and the Tallest Man himself came out to rapturous applause. Playing songs from his first two albums and the recent EP, Sometimes the Blues is Just a Passing Bird — which he modestly insisted was “just an EP” — It was clear from the first note that we were all mesmerised.
One thing that did strike me during the performance was the clarity of sound; it was impeccable. From whisper to crescendo, all could be heard as the crowd stood quietly in awe of Mattson and his soothing majesty. He did actually dedicate a song to his sound man so I guess that’s testament to the exquisite nature of the technical set-up behind the genius. A genius which, on the night, comprised a beautifully flawless array of songs, including my personal favourite, ‘Thousand Ways’. At one point, he even sat down and played the piano, which he described as a strange looking banjo and worked briefly before returning to one of his four guitars and dancing around the stage with joyful abandon. The set closed with one his new songs, ‘Thrown Right at Me’, and Bergman scampered back on stage halfway through for an intimate duet, adding a personally candid and touching finale to a truly amazing night.
25/11/2010
(The video below is from a recent performance in Austin, but illustrates the duet quite beautifully).
The Tallest Man on Earth’s second album, The Wild Hunt, dropped on Dead Oceans last week and I can’t believe I was careless enough to let the date pass by unannounced. Anyway, I’m now back on track and have just ordered my copy which I will greet in a couple of days with shaking hands and bowing reverence. Obviously I haven’t sat down and listened to the whole record yet, but what I have been hearing has been amazing. ‘King of Spain’, ‘The Wild Hunt’ and ‘Burden of Tomorrow’ are all characteristically resplendent and enough to make the darkest of black metal fans sit under a tree and contemplate the good things. My advice to you is sit back, forget obvious comparisons to Bob Dylan and immerse yourself in this sphere of mellifluous brilliance. It’ll definitely make you smile.
Listen/download below and go out and buy the damn thing!
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The Tallest Man on Earth may not be as large as his name suggests, but he sure makes good music. The Wild Hunt, slated for an April 13 release, is the follow-up to 2008′s exquisite Shallow Grave and judging by hype track ‘The King of Spain’, it promises to be every bit as beautiful as its predecessor. It reminds me of ‘The Gardener’, exuding an optimistic and cheery quality, like Dick from The Famous Five. Dick was always the best.
Newly signed to label Dead Oceans, Mattson is currently on a whistle-stop tour of Europe. This would be excellent news, but because I’m so slow I didn’t manage to get tickets for the London show before it sold out. I’ve been looking at flights to Paris but what I have in my piggy bank couldn’t buy me some marbles and Ryanair only fly to an airport 3000 miles out of the city. I may as well attach balloons to my house like the man with toes for fingers in Up. If only I could find a Korean boy scout…
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I’m going to tell you about a couple of albums I’ve been listening to since we’ve been absent because, well, I don’t have anything else to write about at the moment. News doesn’t tend to get released at 2am on a Thursday morning, so I guess I’ll have to make my own.
Alongside my usual melange of dubstep, looped Minilogue and the occasional return to the metal days of old, I’ve really been getting into the folky/acoustic indie end of things. Bon Iver’s album For Emma, Forever Ago is one of the most heart-warming and inspirational records I’ve ever listened to and even though Justin Vernon looks like he should smell of leaves, his ability to communicate a sense of isolation and quivering intensity is nothing short of awesome. From the humble beginnings of ‘Flume’ to the whispering resolution of ‘Re: Stacks’, every track flows with its own sense of melancholic purpose. It gives me a cosy sense of security, as if I were holed up in a small wooden cabin with a roaring fire and no worries. Which is weird because when I looked the album up on Wikipedia, I found out it was all recorded in a log cabin in Wisconsin, a fact I found strangely satisfying. It also makes me want to grow a beard, which is something I can [sort of, and eventually will] do.
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