Later with Jools Holland. And Trollheart

Trollheart · 01-27-2021, 08:16 PM

Trollheart presents...

For those of you who aren’t aware, Later… with Jools Holland is a music programme that has been running on the BBC since 1992, in which bandleader Jools Holland invites an eclectic mix of musical guests onto his show where they play and chat a little. In this journal I’m going to be looking at selected episodes, talking about and exploring every artist he features. Some - most, probably - will be unknown to me (but may not be to you) and in those cases I’ll be sketching a profile of them and featuring some of their music, as well as giving you the skinny on whether or not they impressed me. At worst, as is the nature with Later…, there should be something here for everybody, one way or another.

Episodes are not the easiest to come by. Even the BBC iPlayer doesn't hold them. So I've gathered together what I can and soon I'll be watching them, then going artist-by-artist on each episode, exploring each as I go. Yes this will take time but what else are you going to be doing? Oh yeah? Really? Well, someone will want to read this. Maybe...

Like I say though, worth checking in now and then, as Jools has everything from jazz to nu-soul and heavy metal to ambient on his show, so you're going to read about a whole shedload of different music here. It's going to be an interesting education for ol' TH too, I can tell you.

Back with the first feature soon.

Later(s)...

Trollheart · 10-04-2021, 02:58 PM

Bet you all thought I'd forgotten about this huh? Well joke's on you, because I had! Well, not really, but I've had other things to do. All right, all right! It's been over eight months, I get that. Probably posted it too early. But I've always meant to get back to this, so here I am. The first artist I've come upon is a new one to me (as I hope most of the ones featured here will be) in every sense of the word; though you guys probably have heard of her, I have not.

A note about the stats here: I used “Formed” because I was thinking of bands, but obviously a singer isn't formed; at the same time, I couldn't think of another word to use, so essentially this is when the band or artist first came to anyone's notice I guess. Though that's not right either, as a band could be together or someone writing songs for years before a label took interest. Well, I think you know what I mean. For want of a better word (and this is a terrible one I know), when they began.

Impressions go in descending order from Love, Like, All Right, Meh to Hate

Familiarity goes from 0 to 10, where 0 is where I have never heard of this artist before right up to 10, meaning I am a huge fan and have all their work, probably.

Working Period charts the time from which they first became known commercially or had hits, or released albums.

Chances of listening to more range from A snowball's chance in Hell, ascending through Unlikely, Stranger things have happened, Very likely to Does the Pope shit in the woods?

Season: 57
Episode: 1
Name: Arlo Parks (real name Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho)
Genre(s)*:Indie Pop/Indie Folk
Working Period: 2021 -
Albums: Collapsed in Sunbeams, 2021
Nationality: British (English)
Formed: 2018
First recording(s): 2018
First album: 2021
Format: Singer
Familiarity: 0
Impression: Not bad
Chances of listening to more: Unlikely

* I'm usually pretty terrible figuring out genres, other than the very obvious ones, so as usual I'm taking these from Wiki. You got a problem with that, speak to them. Or let me know I'm wrong. Either is good. Or Neither. In fact, just shut the fuck up and keep it to yourself all right? I work long and hard on these journals and I don't need the likes of you... hey! Where are you going? Come back!

You really couldn't get anyone more recent to kick this off. A mere 21 years old, Arlo Parks (real name above, and I will be damned and fried in batter before I'll type that again!) has already won the Mercury Prize for this year's best album, and been nominated for Album of the Year, Best New Artist (which she won) and Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2021 Brit Awards. Her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, went to number three in the UK charts, with seven of the twelve tracks released as singles (five in 2020) and although these have not replicated the chart success of her album, “Black Dog” was chosen by the influential music magazine New Musical Express (NME) as the fourth best song of 2020.

Although Parks was born and raised in Hammersmith, London, she is of cosmopolitan descent, half Nigerian with French and Chadian thrown in, her mother born in Paris. Her musical career took off pretty quickly when producers of the BBC Music Introducing platform for young, unsigned artists brought her to the attention of radio presenters and through them she signed with Beatnik Creative, releasing her first single “Cola” a few months later. Following this her EP Super Sad Generation was released in April 2019, and a month later she performed her first ever live concert, in Brighton, after which it was only a further month before she was onstage at Glastonbury. Rounding off a pretty incredible year, she released her second EP, Sophie.

In May 2020, just prior to the release of the track “Black Dog” as a single, Parks became the official ambassador for the charity CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, which seeks to bring awareness to mental health issues. This itself was just before she had to cancel her first European tour, due to Covid-19. She spent the time instead writing and recording her first album and released this in 2021. As I say, no less than seven tracks out of twelve were released as singles, though five of them were before the album itself, not quite sure how that works.

As in all of these profiles, I won't be reviewing any albums, but will grab a track or two from one or two to give an overall flavour of the artist, and while that's not a great way to make up my mind as to what I think of them, my impressions here are just that: impressions, and, in most cases, first ones, so feel free to make your own. Everything here is, after all and as always, only the opinion of one person, so don't get bent out of shape if you don't agree with my assessment.

“Too Good” from Collapsed in Sunbeams

A nice little mid-paced bopper. I like the organ swirls in it, the jazzy, funky guitar and her voice is pleasant enough. There's a kind of almost reggae or some sort of Caribbean style beat to this, sort of reminds me of Ace of Base in a way maybe. Pleasant is the word that comes to mind again here. Nothing great, not to me personally, but decent. I wouldn't turn it off if I heard it on the radio.

“Black Dog” from Collapsed in Sunbeams

This is nice. Has a kind of Carole King/Tracy Chapman feel to it. Slower, still got a nice beat and the piano line running through it is effective. Reminds me of ... something. Not sure what. Showcases the softer side of her voice, which is smooth and gentle. The acoustic guitar (or acoustic-sounding anyway) that drives the song counterpoints the piano nicely. Memorable.

“Second Guessing” from Super Sad Generation

A thicker sound to this one, mostly I think due to the percussion. Vocal still fairly gentle and soft, nice bass line but it conveys more of a sense of depression to me than the one above, which is odd as that one was supposed to have been written with reference to depression and suicide. The backing vocals/chant are good and the synth puts me in mind of Heartbeat City-era Cars.

There doesn't seem to be any doubt that this is an artist on the rise. When you have only just released your first album and then you turn up on former First Lady Michelle Obama's playlist, you can be pretty sure the world is taking notice. I must admit, personally, I don't see the justification for all the hype. Yes, it's decent music (what I've heard) and she's certainly made her mark by winning the Mercury Prize with her debut album, and so young too, but in terms of making an impression, on me at least, nah. It's nice to listen to, but I'll have forgotten any tracks I've played by the time I stop typing this.

Of course, I'm not a big pop fan and almost certainly do not have the first idea what I'm talking about. What else is new? And Arlo Parks without question does not need my approval or praise to go on writing great songs and getting plaudits from critics and musicians alike, and I'm sure she will. But simply on a personal level I'm not blown away like say, the first time I heard Vaults or Blush (who?) or Steve Earle or even The The. Just not the same impact.

But that's just me. I have no doubt I'll be proven wrong. In fact, I don't have to be. I'm not writing this saying this woman is no good, why all the fuss? I get it: she's only twenty-one and already making a huge splash, and fair play to her. I'm certain her train will rocket on down the tracks to stardom. I just think I'll be staying back at the station.

rubber soul · 10-05-2021, 05:11 AM

I think I've seen snippets of Jools Holland's show on Youtube. Some pretty good performances.

Lisnaholic · 10-05-2021, 11:06 AM

Yes, his show, and Jools himself are well-regarded in the UK. He made a great show host as he has musicial chops of his own.
(Not to derail TH, but there's a piano duet with Herbie Hancock on Youtube, for example.)

Trollheart · 10-05-2021, 01:37 PM

Absolutely. It was through catching his show on late nights I came up with this idea, as he features music right across the spectrum, so it's a great place to get a real cross-section of music genres. Of course, then I had about a hundred million other ideas and this got pushed to one side, but I always meant to get back to it, and will try to update it a little more regularly from now on.

(Next planned update: December 2024 )

01-27-2021, 08:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Later with Jools Holland. And Trollheart Trollheart presents... For those of you who aren’t aware, Later… with Jools Holland is a music programme that has been running on the BBC since 1992, in which bandleader Jools Holland invites an eclectic mix of musical guests onto his show where they play and chat a little. In this journal I’m going to be looking at selected episodes, talking about and exploring every artist he features. Some - most, probably - will be unknown to me (but may not be to you) and in those cases I’ll be sketching a profile of them and featuring some of their music, as well as giving you the skinny on whether or not they impressed me. At worst, as is the nature with Later…, there should be something here for everybody, one way or another. Episodes are not the easiest to come by. Even the BBC iPlayer doesn't hold them. So I've gathered together what I can and soon I'll be watching them, then going artist-by-artist on each episode, exploring each as I go. Yes this will take time but what else are you going to be doing? Oh yeah? Really? Well, someone will want to read this. Maybe... Like I say though, worth checking in now and then, as Jools has everything from jazz to nu-soul and heavy metal to ambient on his show, so you're going to read about a whole shedload of different music here. It's going to be an interesting education for ol' TH too, I can tell you. Back with the first feature soon. Later(s)... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-04-2021, 02:58 PM	#2 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Bet you all thought I'd forgotten about this huh? Well joke's on you, because I had! Well, not really, but I've had other things to do. All right, all right! It's been over eight months, I get that. Probably posted it too early. But I've always meant to get back to this, so here I am. The first artist I've come upon is a new one to me (as I hope most of the ones featured here will be) in every sense of the word; though you guys probably have heard of her, I have not. A note about the stats here: I used “Formed” because I was thinking of bands, but obviously a singer isn't formed; at the same time, I couldn't think of another word to use, so essentially this is when the band or artist first came to anyone's notice I guess. Though that's not right either, as a band could be together or someone writing songs for years before a label took interest. Well, I think you know what I mean. For want of a better word (and this is a terrible one I know), when they began. Impressions go in descending order from Love, Like, All Right, Meh to Hate Familiarity goes from 0 to 10, where 0 is where I have never heard of this artist before right up to 10, meaning I am a huge fan and have all their work, probably. Working Period charts the time from which they first became known commercially or had hits, or released albums. Chances of listening to more range from A snowball's chance in Hell, ascending through Unlikely, Stranger things have happened, Very likely to Does the Pope shit in the woods? Season: 57 Episode: 1 Name: Arlo Parks (real name Anaïs Oluwatoyin Estelle Marinho) *Genre(s):Indie Pop/Indie Folk Working Period: 2021 - Albums:** Collapsed in Sunbeams, 2021 Nationality: British (English) Formed: 2018 First recording(s): 2018 First album: 2021 Format: Singer Familiarity: 0 Impression: Not bad Chances of listening to more: Unlikely * I'm usually pretty terrible figuring out genres, other than the very obvious ones, so as usual I'm taking these from Wiki. You got a problem with that, speak to them. Or let me know I'm wrong. Either is good. Or Neither. In fact, just shut the fuck up and keep it to yourself all right? I work long and hard on these journals and I don't need the likes of you... hey! Where are you going? Come back! You really couldn't get anyone more recent to kick this off. A mere 21 years old, Arlo Parks (real name above, and I will be damned and fried in batter before I'll type that again!) has already won the Mercury Prize for this year's best album, and been nominated for Album of the Year, Best New Artist (which she won) and Best British Female Solo Artist at the 2021 Brit Awards. Her debut album, Collapsed in Sunbeams, went to number three in the UK charts, with seven of the twelve tracks released as singles (five in 2020) and although these have not replicated the chart success of her album, “Black Dog” was chosen by the influential music magazine New Musical Express (NME) as the fourth best song of 2020. Although Parks was born and raised in Hammersmith, London, she is of cosmopolitan descent, half Nigerian with French and Chadian thrown in, her mother born in Paris. Her musical career took off pretty quickly when producers of the BBC Music Introducing platform for young, unsigned artists brought her to the attention of radio presenters and through them she signed with Beatnik Creative, releasing her first single “Cola” a few months later. Following this her EP Super Sad Generation was released in April 2019, and a month later she performed her first ever live concert, in Brighton, after which it was only a further month before she was onstage at Glastonbury. Rounding off a pretty incredible year, she released her second EP, Sophie. In May 2020, just prior to the release of the track “Black Dog” as a single, Parks became the official ambassador for the charity CALM – Campaign Against Living Miserably, which seeks to bring awareness to mental health issues. This itself was just before she had to cancel her first European tour, due to Covid-19. She spent the time instead writing and recording her first album and released this in 2021. As I say, no less than seven tracks out of twelve were released as singles, though five of them were before the album itself, not quite sure how that works. As in all of these profiles, I won't be reviewing any albums, but will grab a track or two from one or two to give an overall flavour of the artist, and while that's not a great way to make up my mind as to what I think of them, my impressions here are just that: impressions, and, in most cases, first ones, so feel free to make your own. Everything here is, after all and as always, only the opinion of one person, so don't get bent out of shape if you don't agree with my assessment. “Too Good” from Collapsed in Sunbeams A nice little mid-paced bopper. I like the organ swirls in it, the jazzy, funky guitar and her voice is pleasant enough. There's a kind of almost reggae or some sort of Caribbean style beat to this, sort of reminds me of Ace of Base in a way maybe. Pleasant is the word that comes to mind again here. Nothing great, not to me personally, but decent. I wouldn't turn it off if I heard it on the radio. “Black Dog” from Collapsed in Sunbeams This is nice. Has a kind of Carole King/Tracy Chapman feel to it. Slower, still got a nice beat and the piano line running through it is effective. Reminds me of ... something. Not sure what. Showcases the softer side of her voice, which is smooth and gentle. The acoustic guitar (or acoustic-sounding anyway) that drives the song counterpoints the piano nicely. Memorable. “Second Guessing” from Super Sad Generation A thicker sound to this one, mostly I think due to the percussion. Vocal still fairly gentle and soft, nice bass line but it conveys more of a sense of depression to me than the one above, which is odd as that one was supposed to have been written with reference to depression and suicide. The backing vocals/chant are good and the synth puts me in mind of Heartbeat City-era Cars. There doesn't seem to be any doubt that this is an artist on the rise. When you have only just released your first album and then you turn up on former First Lady Michelle Obama's playlist, you can be pretty sure the world is taking notice. I must admit, personally, I don't see the justification for all the hype. Yes, it's decent music (what I've heard) and she's certainly made her mark by winning the Mercury Prize with her debut album, and so young too, but in terms of making an impression, on me at least, nah. It's nice to listen to, but I'll have forgotten any tracks I've played by the time I stop typing this. Of course, I'm not a big pop fan and almost certainly do not have the first idea what I'm talking about. What else is new? And Arlo Parks without question does not need my approval or praise to go on writing great songs and getting plaudits from critics and musicians alike, and I'm sure she will. But simply on a personal level I'm not blown away like say, the first time I heard Vaults or Blush (who?) or Steve Earle or even The The. Just not the same impact. But that's just me. I have no doubt I'll be proven wrong. In fact, I don't have to be. I'm not writing this saying this woman is no good, why all the fuss? I get it: she's only twenty-one and already making a huge splash, and fair play to her. I'm certain her train will rocket on down the tracks to stardom. I just think I'll be staying back at the station. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-05-2021, 11:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
Lisnaholic ...here to hear... Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: He lives on Love Street Posts: 4,444	Yes, his show, and Jools himself are well-regarded in the UK. He made a great show host as he has musicial chops of his own. (Not to derail TH, but there's a piano duet with Herbie Hancock on Youtube, for example.) __________________ "Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

10-05-2021, 01:37 PM	#5 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Absolutely. It was through catching his show on late nights I came up with this idea, as he features music right across the spectrum, so it's a great place to get a real cross-section of music genres. Of course, then I had about a hundred million other ideas and this got pushed to one side, but I always meant to get back to it, and will try to update it a little more regularly from now on. (Next planned update: December 2024 ) __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018