I Don't See You As a Dead Girl

So, I've been to see Monica Queen and it's time I told you about both the Brel gigs now. Monica Queen played to a small (and quite old) crowd on Thursday. If you don't recognice the name she's the woman who sings on the Belle & Sebastian fave "Lazy Line Painter Jane", and suffice to say, it doesn't give a fair exposure to her talent. I mean, it's great, but last night... nothing less than breath-taking, as Eric put it. I've not seen Emmylou Harris live, but I can imagine this is what it would have been like. Because she was THAT good, maybe even better. Her melodies and scales were bit more on the folky side though, rather than country. And the lyrics were maybe a bit too Christian for my taste (her latest record is called Return of the Sacred Heart). She had a guy called Johnny playing guitar and harmonica and doing some harmonies, who was apparently her boyfriend. And she picked up the guitar herself as well for two of the songs, including the last one - a take on "Like a Hurricane". Supporting her was a guy called Daffy (whose music you can hear here), who was really good as well. Imagine a Stuart Murdoch ten years on...

Stevie Jackson was there again - he came to see Tibi Lubin on the Tuesday as well. Tibi Lubin were fantastic! I went there as if to see a band I've never heard, but after the gig it struck me I had heard "Miss Myopia" a few years ago, but totally forgotten about it. The band was three women and they're often compared to Young Marble Giants and the Marine Girls. They've got a new single out (this was a single launch night) called "Frankie Quinn" which is about time because their old debut album that has the same title as this post (produced by Joe Foster and on Rev-Ola) is reportedly out of print. They also played a really good version of Strawberry Switchblade's "Trees and Flowers" that they haven't recorded.