Tenterhooks

Ellen Beth Abdi came to our attention first when she joined A Certain Ratio on their 1982 album and live shows, singing on some of the songs on the album and a lot of the songs when playing live. She has a solo album ready to release in May and preceded it with a single, Tenterhooks, three weeks ago. 

Tenterhooks has a woozy, off kilter rhythm and melody, a wheezy organ sound picking up the tune, jazz and soul both a part of the sound and the tune. The song is about the infernal wait after sending a message, the waiting for a response and the doubt that kicks in. 

This week saw the release of Sad Chord, a short song that never quite does what you might expect it to- the drums and organ keep shifting, there is a flute, the bass bumps around and Ellen's vocal melody keeps things off centre. 

ACR: NCH

A Certain Ratio finished their tour with a hometown gig at Manchester's New Century Hall last Friday night, a set of two halves- first the new album, It All Comes Down To This, played in full and then a second set of career spanning ACR classic. In truth, it's all one set, there's no gap between the two halves, the stripped back ACR never sounding better. I first saw them play live in 1991, have seen them periodically ever since and in recent years have seen them regulalrly at various Manchester venues (the Main Debating Hall at the university, Gorilla, The Ritz, New Century Hall a year ago, Band On The Wall and most recently Soup- a few years ago a group of us had a jaunt to see them in Blackburn too. Sometimes it feels a bit like this blog is just a constantly updating ACR live review service and I make no apology for that, they are in many ways Manchester's finest band with a rich back catalogue, a quintessential Factory act in the 80s, a dalliance with a major label, some turn of the 80s/ 90s acid house adventures, a re- appraisal in the early 2000s, and since signing to Mute have had a run of records that are as good as any of their previous ones). 

ACR have stripped back to the core trio of Martin Moscrop (guitar, trumpet, weird Brazilian percussion instrument, sometimes drums), Jez Kerr (vocals, samples and keys) and Donald Johnson (drums and bass) with new bass player Viv covering for Jez. This pared back version suits them, they sound as good as ever if not better. They play It All Comes Down To This in order, from the opening title track, all clanging guitar and urgent vocals to the chiming closer Dorothy Says, Jez quoting Dorothy Parker in the lyrics. It's already one of 2024's best albums, made by a group over four decades in, who are renewed and energised. As well as the two mentioned the penultimate Where You Coming From is a highlight, driving bass, scratchy guitar and a vocal that rolls the years away. 

The second half is jaw dropping, the band powering through their back pages, cherry picking a dozen highlights and playing them with a freshness and energy that cut through the room. Long time instrumental set opener Winter Hill buzzes with electricity and dark drones, then they dive into the stepped staccato punk- funk of Du The Do and The Fox from 1981's To Each... album, arty New York inspired scratchy funk originally recorded in NY with Martin Hannett. They stay in New York for their sublime cover of Talking Heads' Houses In Motion, the song with Grace Jones that never was, resurrected live for their 40th celebrations, a bendy, shape shifting cover version. 

ACR's recent albums have been so strong that songs from them are part of tonight's set and they stand alongside the ones that would make up any Best Of ACR album. Berlin (from 2020's Loco) is sleek, Mancunian guitar melancholia. Samo (from 2023's 1982) is early 80s inspired funk/ rap. 

The Big E is dedicated to Denise Johnson who Jez tells us they still miss terribly, and is the cue for a mass audience singalong, the build up to the chorus and the line, 'I won't stop loving you', as much one of this city's mainstays as any by bigger and better known bands. Good Together, a 1989 acid house banger with squiggly acid bassline, throbbing synths, purloined Beach Boys lyrics and massive dance music energy, is a highlight and is followed by Shack Up, their calling card in many ways, a song they borrowed from funk band Banberra and never gave back. Martin gives an impassioned between song speech about supporting smaller venues, something of an issue in Manchester at the moment with the farrago at the much vaunted brand new Co- op arena and the farcical delayed opening, its boss (who resigned a few weeks ago) having previously made comments about how the problem with smaller venues is that they're sometimes very badly run- lol, as the kids say. 

For the final two songs they invite support act and singer Ellen Beth Abdi back on stage to join them, powering through the 1982 song Knife Slits Water, a song with a weird tension and stuttering drum pattern, echo and minor chords, demob haircuts and army jumpers, greyed out funk for the early 80s. Tonight it's a powerhouse, Don slapping the bass and Martin playing trumpet and guitar simultaneously. They finish with Get A Grip (from Loco), Ellen skipping and singing her way through a song that as much as any demonstrates ACR still have so much to give. 

Tonight's gig is being filmed. Hopefully in the near future it'll be released so that those who weren't there can see what all the fuss is about- and those who were can relive it. I have friends who went to the Bristol and Aberdeen gigs who were equally blown away by ACR and their live show. Genuinely life affirming stuff from a group who just don't seem to want to stop. 

ACR At Band On The Wall- Early, Current And Future

During the lifetime of this blog I've reviewed live gigs by A Certain Ratio more than other band. ACR have played a range of small and medium sized venues around Manchester in the eight years and I've been at many of them (with a foray to Blackburn a few years ago too). On Sunday night they finished their current tour with a gig at Band On The Wall, Manchester's oldest/ longest running gig venue, with two sets. It was the third time I've seen them in 2023 alone- previous gigs took in a memorable celebration of this year's album 1982 at New Century Hall and an outdoor set at Factory International in the summer at Dave Haslam's request, with Dave DJing afterwards. At both the outdoor gig (thankfully with a roof) and Sunday's night's at Band On The Wall it poured down in typically Mancunian style, driving rain and wind welcoming us as we traipsed out onto the dark streets having seen ACR provide the punk, the funk, the post- punk, the Latin, the jazz, and the Manc- noir and signpost the way to the future. 

The tour, ACR45, is a celebration of the journey they've been on since 1978. The first set was the early songs, Martin Moscrop and Jez Kerr arriving on stage and kicking into debut single, 1979's All Night Party. It's quite the opening, the dark, scratchy, definitely inspired by punk sound of Martin's guitar and Jez's bass and doomy vocal standing out starkly- very early Factory. Halfway through the song Donald Johnson gets behind the drum kit and joins in, suddenly, both in the song live and back in 1979 when he joined the group, they change, the punk/ post punk dread instantly becoming fuller and funkier. Donald brought the groove to ACR and they never really looked back. 

All Night Party

All Night Party is a seminal Factory single, numbered Fac 5 in the catalogue system, produced by Martin Zero (Hannett) at Cargo in Rochdale. All Night Party was so early, that the only Factory record that precedes it is Fac 2 A Factory Sample. Fac 1, 3 and 4 were all Peter Saville posters. In the late 70s cultural commentator/ style guru Peter York was shown a photo of ACR and said they looked 'early'. 

'Early what Peter?', Tony Wilson asked. 

'Just early'. 

Back in 2002 when they reformed after a few years apart they played Band On The Wall to promote the album Early, a two CD compilation on Soul Jazz Records. Tonight, twenty one years later, they still have that feel, that feel of being early, of being pioneers. 

As All Night Party ends ACR expand to the current six piece line up, with new bassist Viv Griffin giving Jez the freedom to concentrate on vocals, whistle, percussion and triggering samples, long running sax player Tony Quigley, keys/ synths player Matt Steele and Ellen Beth Abdi, vocals and percussion, a youthful foil at the front next to Jez. Their early songs, those singular Factory songs, singles and album tracks, sound superb- Do The Du, Flight, Shack Up and Knife Slits Water, all as dark as the night outside and cut through with that skeletal funk. In the middle the rhythm and drone of Winter Hill shows how far they could go. Wild Party and Lucinda bring the jazz to go with the punk funk. At one point the six players are cooking up a storm, the sound filling the room and the crowd bobbing and moving, with various percussion instruments, lithe bass, keys and saxophone- none of the trappings of rock 'n' roll, no squealing guitars and crashing drum solos, but instead an alternative, a cinematic, dancefloor soundtrack. Just to show they aren't doing a nostalgia show (and at no point does the gig feel like nostalgia or a revival) on Mickey Way they update the 1986 jazz funk with its atonal trumpet and sax parts with the appearance of a rapper, Chunky- and it works perfectly. 

After a short break the come back for the second set. Jez is in good form, cracking jokes and muttering sardonic asides. He opens the second set by dedicating the first song to Denise Johnson- Won't Stop Loving You is as good a late 80s/ early 90s Manchester song as any of the others, and is lit up. Then they play a deep, dub house version of Good Together complete with Matt's freak out synth ending and then 27 Forever, a glorious piece of electronic pop from 1991. It's followed by their cover of Talking Heads' House In Motion, a song they recorded at Strawberry Studios in the early 80s with the intention of having Grace Jones on vocals. Grace made it to Strawberry but never put her vocal down. ACR released the cover in its demo form with Jez's guide vocal a few years ago. Hearing it played live tonight is worth the price of admission alone, Viv leading the way pushing Tina Weymouth's bassline into new spaces, ACR covering Talking Heads making perfect sense. 

It's testament to how revitalised they've been in recent years and how much of a streak they are on that the new songs they play for the rest of the set stand alongside the older ones they've played up to this point. Their 2020 album Loco felt like the result of four decades work, a distillation of their sound, experiences and influences. Yo Yo Gi and especially the sleek, early 80s noir pop of Berlin are immense. 

Berlin

The title track of this year's album 1982, a love letter to the time the band spent in new York in that year, is a modern Manc funk groove. SAMO is clipped, driving hook heavy dance music, Ellen Beth Abdi all exuberance and cool vocals. At the end they bring on a trio of new, young co- vocalists for Day By Day, the newest song and a nod to the future, three early twenty- somethings crowded round the mics, ACR the next generation, with Ellen's lead vocal front and centre. The finale is the customary set closer Si Firmir O Grido, everyone on drums and percussion, a heady, good time groove, Jez blasting his whistle, Martin and Don swapping seats behind the drum kit and then back again. At Gorilla a few years ago when they played Si Firmir O Grido they marched off the stage and into the crowd, the crowd gathered around ACR's tightknit circle. Tonight they stay on the stage, the crowd's faces grinning back at them. 

Earlier on between two of the songs Jez paid tribute to Alan Erasmus, the co- founder of Factory and co- manager of ACR in the early days. Alan turned up backstage before Sunday night's gig with a bottle of champagne for each member and apparently an apology for letting the band down in the early 80s. Looking at ACR tonight, it's difficult to see how they were let down- they've outlasted almost everyone else, they're making new music that is streets ahead of their contemporaries, have adapted and changed, bringing new blood in to update themselves and they look like they're having more fun than everyone else too. More power to A Certain Ratio.  

Strawberry Afro

Strawberry Studios, Waterloo Road, Stockport, opened in 1968 and closed in the early 1990s, owned and fitted out with top of the range spec by 100cc's Eric Stewart and Graham Gouldman. In between a multitude of bands made significant records there- for the purposes of this post we'll go with Joy Division and Martin Hannett recording Unknown Pleasures and Love Will Tear Us Apart, early New Order before they decided to go on without Hannett producing, The Smiths and Hand In Glove plus the 'Manchester' version of This Charming Man, some early Stone Roses recordings, The High's Somewhere Soon album, Indian Rope and some of Some Friendly by The Charlatans, Durutti Column's 1984 Without Mercy, my friend Darren's band Rig, and the legendary 1980 sessions where A Certain Ratio and Grace Jones almost recorded a version of Talking Heads' House In Motion. Parts of ACR's 1990 album acr:mcr was recorded and mixed at Strawberry. I could go on. It's no longer a recording studio but the sign has been put back up, a momento of an ordinary red brick building in unfashionable Stockport that changed the way things were done. 

A Certain Ratio are gearing up for a new album out at the end of March this year called 1982. In November last year they released a second single ahead of it, the Tony Allen sampling Afro Dizzy with a dazzling vocal from new singer Ellen Beth Abdi. Afro Dizzy doesn't sound like a group who have become remotely dulled by being in existence since 1979. If anything they sound more alive, more energised and better than ever

Waiting On A Train

A Certain Ratio are back, a new single out this week and an album called 1982 to follow in March next year. The single, Waiting On A Train, features the vocal talents of two ACR newcomers, both from Manchester- singer Ellen Beth Abdi and rapper Chunky. Ellen stepped into the space left by the sad loss of Denise Johnson (and it turns out is the daughter of a colleague of mine). The song shows a band who aren't content to rest on their post- punk laurels and repeat themselves. Waiting On A Train has a slow burning groove, funk bass and gritty guitar licks, wiggy synth squiggles and two very cool vocal parts, Ellen and Chunky taking turns to lead, Ellen's nonchalant, jazz tinged vocal and Chunky's laid back rap coming together around the refrain, 'It's so insane'. 

Th album follows next year. ACR say there are several reasons for calling the album 1982, none of which were steeped in nostalgia. Some the song titles - A Trip To Hulme, Tombo In M3 and Ballad Of ACR- do suggest a Manchester based record, no bad thing for band so connected to this city since the late 70s. Ellen appears on two more songs along with Emperor Machine (Andy Meecham). Last year ACR released three EPs, one of which featured collaborations with both Emperor Machine and Stretford's Chris Massey, dedicated to Andrew Weatherall. The track with Emperor Machine, titled Emperor Machine, was a masterclass in electronic funk, borrowing the stepped, punk funk rhythm from their own 1979 song Do The Du and updating it for now in fine style.