ARTICLES
Our Friends...
'We've brought our friends' available from Beados records has a great interview with Novak and many other rising stars of the Brummyland scene and record labels etc. You can read the article here, It's quite big so it's got a page to itself. Many thanks to Alan for allowing me to put up a copy.
A hardware copy is still available for £3.00 from Bearos Records, and is highly recommended.
Bearos Records, P.O. Box 7179, Birmingham, West Midlands, B29 6RA, UK
And while you're there, ask him about other releases on the Bearos label, it's fab!
Review of the First Demo Tape
A review By Trigger the Tiger, It's from a local Birmingham Fanzine. Alas I've forgotten which one! I'll try to find out which one, and the date. Sometime...
"The tape begins with 'Rapunzel' that starts with a sample from a love story teller and then flows effortlessly into the track itself. This is minimalist/lo-fi indie warbling with a female vocalist, who sounds like she was recording about ten miles away from the mike. 'Silver Seas' is in a similar vein, although it is more drawn out and trippy. Both tracks are orginal , intersting and would draw me to see them live, but as with similary off the wall bands, they are unlikely to go platinum."
And this, from the Boa Fanzine, issue 5(winter 1997). Copies of the loverly mag are still svailable from the nice people at Boa
This seems to be a band who don't do things by halves. "Rupunzel" starts out spookily with a Listen With Mother type and then gets wildly dramatic. "Silver Seas" calms things down a bit. It reminds me a bit of Spiritulized; a lovely cocooning sound." Gayle.
Reviews Of the Rapunzel Single
This recieved not one but two reviews in The Melody Maker, both with guest reviews, one with Steve 'Evening Session' Lamaq and the other with Tim from Orlando. Sorry I don't know the dates, or which came first.
Review One:
MM hack:"Beginning with a sample of a schools' programme telling you to "close youe eyes and see if you can tell what the sounds are:, this crossess a lo-fi hip hop beat with mariachi percussion and sweetly cracked female vocals. And a bazouki rush. And flutes. I think. I might not pass the listening test, but this does with flying colours, a dubbed-up, pared-down Quickspace kind of vibe that has you dragging the needle back to the beginning again and again. Orlando aren't so sure.
Tim (Orlando): It might grow on you. I used to be an actor and when you get bored with theatre you start getting into all forms of experimental performance. Until you realise what you wanted was to see people who could actually act in a play that was well written. That's what I'm going through with music. After a while you end up craving a really good song. I hear things on a weekly basis I can't live without-but it's not this."
Review Two:
MM hack:"More guitar-thrilling lo-fi, but this is an impressively unusual and unsettling track. A relentless pitta-patta female vocal creeps like paranoia, muttering what would could be a teenage suicide note or the ravings of a once-brilliant bag lady caught in car headlights".
Steve Lamaq: "This is another song that jumped out a mile when I first heard it. It's weirdly sexy, quite haunting, the vocal reminds me of an old Blue Areoplanes track, strangly enough. I love the way she gets more and more frantic as she goes on. Difficult to get your head around, but I like it."
MM: "So there is more to you than heads down indie powerpop then , Steve?"
Steve: "Now you're just being offensive. I'm not taking any more of this . I'm off!"
This was the last review on the page!
Reviews of the Blue Chinook Single
From Record Collector May 1999:
"Former singles of the monthers, Novak return with a vocal reworking of 'Almost Chinook', the B-side to 1997's 'Rapunzel'. An insistent rhythm supports a wandering flute refrain and charming toy xylophone, while a heavy wah-wah guitar gets some excerise, with dreamy feamle vocals setting us up for summer."
Thanks to Antony at Avrocar for that. There's also an interesting Interview with Tasmin and others in the April 1999 edition of Sleaznation, that can be found via the above Avrocar link above.
Melody Maker Breakers Section.
Which is where the picture on the front page comes from. The orginal photo had a couple of additional members not croped off! Also, note early use of the Novak/No vac 'joke'.
"SHAKE AND NOVAK, Novak Garble and they've lost their marbles"
Novak garble and they've lost their marbles. Novak all want their say- and there are seven of them. The tape of the interview is a gift of homogeneous gab. Who said what? If we find out a bit more about what Novak sound like and how they came to sound like it, who cares?
"when we started, we were were more sure about what we didn't want to sound like...We wanted this big expensansive sound -like Neil Young's 'Cortez the Killer'... I'm from a classical background... I taught Art Blakey to play drums..Our songs have to be over Six minutes long that's the only rule... We played what sounded good to us... I remember just squealing with delight when I heard the first single..."
The first single in questions was 'Seven Seas'- an introduction to Novak, Wrapped in pieces of Adel's (sic) gold brillo-pad captain cavemen dress. As cute as Tinderstics debut and twice as broody. Next 'Rapunzel'. "It sounded like madness' 'Embarrassment' when we started out... But, with seven people contributing, things changed around... We'll have an idea we want to work with a song, but we'll end up ditching the song and keeping the idea... We're contantly suprising ourselves... We always know where we want to go, it's just a question of how we get there..."
Novak have arrived. (Mark Luffman)
What's a Captain Caveman dress? I always thought C.C. went around nude, with only his ample body hair to protect his modesty.
Live Review at the Flapper and Firkin
Again from that free Fanzine. I wonder what sort of person would heckle them like that...
"Summing up their defiantly lo-fi stance Novak kick off with a taped intro, but don't worry, true to form it's played straight down the mic from a battered old mono tape player. Apparently Novak are starting to make waves down in London which can only be good news for Birmingham bands in general - to have such an individualistic group gaining attention.
Not that Novak need to worry about gaining attention in Birmingham, although their appreciative audience did give them some stick for the terrible confession that their new EP would be on compact disc. The joking cries of 'sell out' from the crowd were sheepishly accepted by the band.
So what of Novak? I'm sure they've had the Mercury Rev comparisons before so I'd better not mention that, but with scratchy insistent guitars the Novak sound is like the Wedding Present slowed down to the wrong speed (you could do that before Costly Discs) sweetened by female vocals, xylophones and flutes. Not just your average band, Novak employ a range of instruments to keep their sound different. Perhaps they try to hard, but for whatever reason, something doesn't quite fit. For all their clever use of very un-rock 'n' roll instruments and their own determinedly attitude, there was something strangely unsatisfying about this gig. But if Novak can keep doing it, and doing it in their own individualistic way then more power to em." (Brian McKinstrie)
Live Review Of the 'One Nation Under The Moog' Mega-Gig
After a positive but short review of the Appliance preformance..
"Novak, on the other hand are so dissolute they almost evaporate onstage"
Stvie Chick, Melody Maker dated October 24 1998
Bumpf for the John Peel's Show
Wednesday 14/04/99: Novak
Novak are a seven piece band who've been described as
Birmingham's answer to Mercury Rev. They met a few years ago at a
Sonic Youth Gig where they decided to forge their own sonic
future. In the interim they've released several singles and
performed live with their own eccentric cool. They're debut album
"Novak" is released on 26th April and they've just
released the single "Blue Chinook", singer Adele says
"It's kind of a daydream in a sense that daydreams aren't
all skippy bunnies." This is their debut Peel Session but
you can catch them live as they're in the middle of a tour at the
moment and this week they'll be playing at Brighton - Sussex Arts
Centre (13th), Preston - Adelphi (15th) and Glasgow - 13th Note
(16th).
"Inter-City Sizzlers With New LP To Turn Your Blue Litmus Paper Red" - John Peel
For the repeat session Thursday 01/07/99.
So what have been the trial tribulations of your regular indie rock band since their debut Peel Session's first airing? Well according to them … not much, vocalist, Adele says "You know what we're like. Dullest band in the world". However, they are still hoping to play the Leeds Festival in August and will be starting work on a new single and album over the summer. Apart from that Kirsty (bass guitar) has broken her toe playing football.
Reviews of the Debut Album:
From the NME, dated May 1 1999; A bit of a Birmingham Special this edition, as well as Novak, there's live reviews of Pram, Broadcast, Twist, and a single by The Jetsons, (The sound of Brums, indeed, I'll have to nick that one!)
"Not so much post-rock as post urban, Novak's debut LP reaches us just in time for spring, a refreshing sweep of clensing melodies, warm instrumentation, and a nice light funk beneath the pastoral swathes.
Mixing singer Adele's graceful, creamy croon deftly within wistful accordion, sparingly employed oscillator and plainitive recorder, as well as the tradional guitar, drums and bass, Novak create an almost motorik form of chilled-out, cinematic folk.
Elegance is the key here. That's why 'Lord of the World' unfurls languidly, unhurriedly, with the considered hush that could be mistaken for bookishness, but which is, in fact an almost supernatural feel for correctness of mood. That's why previous sing 'Boy Scouts Of America' can afford to slowly eke out a melody the shape of a grin, and allow it to meander over its six minutes until it eases into its radiant climax without even breaking a sweat.
Quite how they manage it all in the heart of spaghetti Junction is a miracle, but the idea of a school orchestra carving out symphonies to God with Can's rhythm section holding down the beat is your idea of a good night in, you might wanna give Novak a call. (7) Steve Chick"
Also this in the 'New releases'
"Novak unleash their plinky-plonky eponymous LP, it's out now on Kitty Kitty..."
Moving up a floor to the Melody Maker, dated May 8th 1999:
"Weirdest thing I ever saw: a gang of accordion-toting buskers worming their way through my Tube carriage the other day. Playing Steps' "5,6,7,8". I only mention this because Novak start their album - their debut album -with an accordian and it makes me stare at my shoes and blush. And get off at the next stop. And take a cab instead.
The accordian only lasts one song, but nothing replaces it apart from jangly flurries of needy guitar, lazy flourishes of weedy flute and anaemic F***-alls of dweeby singing from a girl called Adele who doubless pouts. Belle & Sebastian fans will love it. Whistler fans, on the other hand, will snort derisively.
Everyone else, meanwhile, will curse the way James f***ing Galway resurrected the flute back in the Seventies, perforate their own eardrums when that bloody accordion reappears on the execratbly tepid "Cross Purposes" and pass out with boredom by track five. But prove me wrong. Write in and describe "Havana (where she was)", the closing song. Show me you stayed awake that long. A patronising letter of commiseration and a free Tube ticket awaits the first postcards out of the hat." ROBIN BRESNARK 1½ stars out of five
Ouch! Still At least he diden't compare them Mercury Rev!
Live Review at the Water Rats, London:
"They don't look like stars. They don't act like stars and God knows they don't sound like stars. Nevertheless, there's a sound going on here which I cam pnly descibe as twinky. Think Mercury Rev at their most Christmas-y- all 'Silent Night' and falling snow.
All that sounds unbearably twee, then blame the xylophone on 'Relief Rain' or 'Blue Chinook' or the smokey, Gallic accordion on their best song, 'Lord Of The World'. There are moments that add colour to what can sometimes be an uninvolving wash of noise. At their worst, Novak are Stereolab meet Tindersticks without the urgency of the former or the mournful beauty of the latter. At their best, they twist the same admirable influences into low-key torch songs which flicker noirishly and throw out all kinds of interesting places. The pace is slow, but prehapse that's just my attention-span.
This is music for the almost pathologically patient - for those prepared to stand for half an hour, waiting for that all-too-rare tug on the heartstrings. When it does happen, it's beautiful despite the fact that it's slightly disconcerting that while we (the audience) stand politely in silence, they (the band) turn their backs, chat amoung themselves and generally pretend we've not there. Oh the shame of it, a london crowd out-ignored by the band. We'll never live it down."
Trevor Baker, Melody Maker dated April 24 1999.
NOTE: All material in italics remains copyright of the respective writters. Please contact me at the address given on the front page if you want it a credit or it removed.