Mick West: Musical Memorial @ Trades Club in Hebden Bridge

The legacy of English avant-garde guitarist Mick West will be celebrated with a Musical Memorial @ Trades Club in Hebden Bridge on April 3rd:

The night features Mick-inspired sets from bands he founded or played a vital role in and representing many sides of Mick’s musical brilliance from his first acid folk songs as a teenager (Amoeba Pie), his love of exploratory mind-expanding improv (Abrasive Pheasants), twisted avant garde songs (Beastfish), wigged out garage psych (The Electric Brains) and Slavic folk-punk (The Ukrainians).

Mick West: 1968-2018

English avant-garde guitarist Mick West is dead at 49. He suffered a cardiac arrest on the 20th March. He was taken off life support after being diagnosed with major brain damage, which ruled out a meaningful life. West collaborated with various like-minded musicians in Yorkshire.

He formed a duo with Colin Robinson. They recorded four albums as The Clog Hunt Occasional Collapsing Knitting Society. Their latest album, Lunch should always be quietly threatening, was released last year.

» Michael Linden West on Soundcloud

HCTF review of Lunch should always be quietly threatening.

Jumble Hole Clough: Live at the Nutclough with Mick West, 21st May 2016

A change of pace happened at the most recent Jumble Hole Clough gig omn the 21st of May at the Nutclough Tavern in Hebden Bridge. This time prolific avant-gardist Colin Robinson went for concise, improvised guitar excursions. Four of the five tracks have single word titles, foregoing the longish (and often funny) names of his previous output. Michael Linden West joined him on synthesizer for Saint and Star, adding an eerie Doctor Who vibe.

Cramming ideas into a shorter time frame might win him some new listeners with a limited attention span, but one cant escape the feeling that the tracks could have been even better if they had been allowed to develop more fully. Castle is the best of the crop. It's a trip through possibly haunted and crumbling edifice, with Robinson leading the way through dusty rooms and creaky staircases, nearly coming to a halt at times to admire the view.