Dylan Thomas’ play Under Milk Wood is the source of Starless & Bible Black’s name. Jazz heads know Stan Tracey Quartet’s Jazz Suite which contain the classic track ‘Starless & Bible Black’ that was revitalised by the Jazz Britannia series and definitely not to be confused with King Crimson album.

Starless & Bible Black are based on the trio of French born vocalist Hélène Gautier, Peter Philipson (guitars) and Raz Ullah (keyboards, electronics and drones) and are joined here by Paul Blakesley (bass), Brian Edwards (drums).

The overall sound is not as electronic as Tunng and less rock-psychedelic than The Eighteenth Day Of May. This perfectly fits the songs written by Gautier and Philipson but, having said that, the opener finds them at their most rockin’ as the banjo and theremin get matched against electric guitar and Gautier’s vocals on the standout ‘Everyday And Everynight’.

Elsewhere the songs settle into something more downtempo with Gautier’s gentle vocals slipping into French at times (notably on ‘Sirene’ and ‘Hermoine’) while the use of some talented guests keep the tracks varied. A certain multi-instrumentalist Tom Chapman keeps cropping up and his glockenspiel playing makes ‘Time Is For Leaving’.

The strange title of ‘The Birley Tree’ hides a space folk cum sing-along that would fit the main stage at Glastonbury (erm, perhaps Cropredy more like).

Talking of which, their folk roots are clearly at the Fairport Convention which is particular noticeably on ‘Hermoine’ and ‘Allsight’; that’s the little-known line-up of Fairport with Leafcutter John.

The only non-original song is a cover of the traditional booze warning of ‘The Bitter Cup’ by Billy Childish (who is mates with our Medway man Lupen Crook) and then, at the other extreme, the instrumental ‘Untitled Cantiga’ is mostly acoustic guitar that drifts into a little Breton drone.

This is very impressive for a debut album and I love the jazziness of ‘B.B.’. So we’ve found yet another band to look out for live. Hopefully we’ll see them at festivals this year.

Live Dates:
Sat 17 Feb, 2007, Edinburgh Cafe Royal: Edinburgh, Scotland
Sat 10 Mar, 2007, Kings Arms, Bloom Street, Salford, Manchester

Hectic Mix nominations: ‘Everyday And Everynight’, ‘Hermoine’ and ‘B.B.’
Like this, also try: Vashti Bunyan’s Lookaftering (Fat Cat Records) Released Jan 07

Reviewed: Starless & Bible Black, Starless & Bible Black (Locust Music) Cat. No. LOCUST 85 Release date: 24 Oct 2006
Tracklisting:
1. Everyday And Everynight (4:45)
2. Time Is For Leaving (3:59) Tom Chapman (glockenspiel)
3. Sirene (2:52)
4. Tredog (2:38) Additional vocals by Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe
5. The Birley Tree (4:50)
6. Hermoine (3:09) Tom Chapman (bass)
7. B.B. (6:36) plus Kate Reynolds (bassoon), Ros Hawley (clarinet), Mike Bray (flute) and Luke Das Gupta (horns)
8. Allsight (4:17) with addition guitar by Tom Chapman
9. Untitled Cantiga (3:26)
10. The Bitter Cup (4:38) (written by Billy Childish)
11. 016-013 (3:29) Harmonica by Tom Chapman and additional vocals by Nancy Elizabeth Cunliffe

Links:
www.myspace.com/starlessbibleblack
Starless & Bible Black
Locust Media, P.O. Box 220426, Chicago. Illinois 60622
www.locustmusic.com
www.theebillychildish.com
www.nancycunliffe.co.uk
www.stantracey.co.uk