Fragile Creatures debut single

Posted on 11/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

After spending the last few months honing their sound, today Fragile Creatures unleash their debut single onto thje world today, released digitally through DNVMusic.

The single is a double A-side – Dear Michael is laid back, shuffling indie pop with organs, brushes on the drums and lush harmonies. She Makes Me Nervous is a more up-beat affair, and off kilter stomper which switches tempo between verse and chorus. The video for the single isn’t out there just yet, but I’ll update the blog when it is.

Fragile Creatures have just been to Normandy to record their album, which they’re hoping will be out by the end of the year. Between now and then, they’re playing at Latest on 29th June, Brighton People’s Day on 14th July, and if recent activity has been anything to go by, dozens of other dates too.

new single : Moulettes / Sing Unto Me

Posted on 07/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Back in April The Moulettes had their single launch at The Marlborough. Two months on, it’s about time they actually released it. Held back by a combination of trying to tie things in with their multitude of festival appearances, and pressing plant delays caused by bank holidays, Sing Unto Me finally hits the shops next monday.

Sing Unto Me is the lead single from the Moulettes new album The Bear’s Revenge. In a bit of a departure from most of their tracks, lead singer Hannah Miller takes on guitar rather than ‘cello duties, but the overall sound is very familiar – tight female harmonies sung in the round, and a folk rhythm section made up of guitar, fiddle, bodhran, and any other bits of percussion that come to hand as well as double bass from Ted Dwane from Mumford and Sons.

Being the generous sorts they are, the single comes with a bumper six tracks – as well as a single edit, there’s a remix, a cover by fellow Brightonians The Muel, and a handful of b-sides including live favourite Are You Going Away To Sea, which is probably the track that made me fall in love with them in the first place.

The band are going to have a very busy summer. If you happen to be at any of the following festivals, I heartily recommend you go and see them:

07/06 Irish Cultural Centre, Derry, Northern Ireland
08/06 Marlboro House, Bundoran, Donegal
09/06 ‘Gentlemen Of The Road’ Salthill Pk Galway – w/Mumford & Sons
10/06 The Slate, Cork – on at 5.30pm, *before* the football!
06/07 Nova Festival
21/7 Secret Garden Party – Three gigs in one day! 5pm @ Onetaste, 8-ish @ Small World, 11.30pm-ish @ Cut-A-Shine
29/07 Cambridge Folk Festival (Den Stage)
03/08 Playgroup Fest – 5pm Main Stage
04/08 Nottingham Riverside Festival
12/08 Greenwich Summer Festival
25/08 Purbeck Folk Festival
26/08 Rhythm Festival
02/09 End Of The Road Festival
07/09 Bestival Isle Of Wight
29/09 Life Centre, Bournemouth
06/10 Musicport Festival, Whitby
21/10 Lewes ‘Apple Festival’

Anneka supporting Com Truise at The Haunt 5/6/12

Posted on 06/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It was a British Bank Holiday, therefore it must be raining. It seems to be raining nearly every time I go to the Haunt. But last night it was definitely worth braving the weather, as new-in-town promoters TEA put on Com Truise with support from Anneka, who’s a local artist who we haven’t written about on the blog yet.

Com Truise

Com Truise was fantastic, filling the room with big crunchy beats. But Seth Haley, as his mum calls him, isn’t a Brightonian so let’s devote the rest of this blog post to the support. There’s a chance you may have heard of Anneka already – She’s collaborated with the likes of Falty DL, Starkey, Ital Tek, Vex’d and Blue Daisy on records that have been all over BBC 6Music, Radio 1 and XFM, and now she’s starting to perform on her own.

So many solo female electronic artists get compared to Bjork, and often it’s a very lazy comparison on the journalists part and one that doesn’t tell you a great deal about the artist either, so let’s refine it a bit and then justify it: Anneka’s music sounds like Bjork’s around Post / Homogenic – Music that would sound as good on the dancefloor as it would on the radio, or through headphones. The sound is heavy on the bass, but the rest of the musical spectrum isn’t ignored, nor are melodies or song structures. Vocally, Anneka isn’t so much like Bjork – she doesn’t attempt the vocal acrobatics or growls – but her voice does have strength, warmth and character.

Anneka

In a live environment Anneka didn’t just hide behind her computer and augmented the those sounds with live vocals, extra keys and percussion making for a far more interesting experience, and the sound setup in The Haunt deserves a mention for sounding so good – loud but without being overbearing. In her short twenty minute set as well as half a dozen of her own tunes Anneka also covered PJ Harvey’s Electric Light, using the original as a base, transforming PJ’s simple mantra into something epic:

Anneka is definitely an act to watch out for. Go and see her somewhere with great sound sooner rather than later because before long, if there’s any justice, she’ll be too big for anywhere in Brighton.

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Bleeding Hearts Club featuring Junior Electronics

Posted on 05/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Brighton Music Blog regulars will know by now that we’re big fans of the Bleeding Hearts Club, Brighton’s first-Monday-of-the-month regular source of below-the-radar excellent new music. Yesterday was the June edition, and being a bank holiday, Chris decided to start an hour earlier and turn the night into a Jubilee-concert-alternative union-jack-free mini-festival featuring six (count ’em, six!) acts, with headliners Junior Electronics.

I missed the opening act unfortunately, the early start being challenged by the grumble in my stomach, but got there in time to hear Danny Kendall singing his heart out. Danny was formerly of legendary Brighton band La Frange.

La Frange always wore their francophilism on their stripey t-shirt’s sleeves. Danny was followed by a visitor from the real France, Polyanna (not the Aussie rock band!) who was playing solo, stopping off at the BHC as part of a small UK tour. Isabelle Cassier (for it is she) has a beautiful voice and sings her songs in English, songs about old rockers and working in a factory and other things and was generally lovely.

Next up was local legend and (as one music magazine recently put it) “national treasure” Mary Hampton. If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing Mary play live, then you’ve been seriously missing out. This time, she had just a short set of three songs, one of which was a long acapella folk story song and the last of which the gorgeous Honey in the Rock from her beautiful album Folly was worth the entry price alone. One day I live in hope of Mary playing a two hour Springsteen-length set, but for now anything will do.

Penultimate act was the Celloist-singer (and former guitarist in James and Sharkboy…) Adrian Oxaal who played the BHC only recently but made a welcome return. His two John Martyn covers were spellbinding, the combination of Adrian’s deep hesitant vocal and his melancholic cello combining beautifully. He also played two of his own songs which were also fine moving numbers. Rarely seen live these days, it’s marvellous that the BHC provides opportunities like these.

Finally, the headliners Junior Electronics came on stage and gave me a WTF moment, as strange electronic rhythms started nervously blurting out from a Moog synthesiser. Not what we have come to expect from our Bleeding Hearts. But gradually the songs started to take shape and the sound settled down into an interesting shape, and this listener began to ‘get it’. The final song was a joy, sounding as much like 60s sunshine pop as murky space-rock.

Junior Electronics are the brainchild of Joe Watson, his solo project when not playing keyboards for Stereolab and featured Mary Hampton again (playing a brightly coloured toy electric piano and occasional vocals). They have two albums out which are worth checking if you like post-rock electro-pop.

And finally – here’s compere Chris Davies saying good night, until next month’s Bleeding Hearts Club.

Good night Chris.

All Photographs in this post

by Jon Southcoasting,

copyright etc

available for weddings, barmitzvahs and band shoots

Time and Space Machine live at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar 1/6/12

Posted on 02/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

It’s not often you get to see a band’s debut gig. But then it’s not often that a band doesn’t play their debut gig until after their second album is released, as Time & Space Machine did last night. Time and Space Machine is Richard Norris’ band based project – a twin brother to Beyond The Wizard’s Sleeve, his psychedelic remix / re-edits project with Erol Alkan. The records are mostly Richard’s own work (with a little help on drums), but for their debut gig, they’d grown to a five piece.

Richard Norris / Time and Space Machine

If you haven’t heard the new album Taste The Lazer, it’s mostly psychedelia, with a bit of krautrock and garage thrown into the mix. Live they gave the impression of being the band Oasis could have been – if only they’d taken LSD rather than cocaine and listened to the Beatles later albums rather than stopping somewhere around Rubber Soul – or maybe they were a bit like current music industry darlings Toy if their record collection wasn’t just experimental German records from the early seventies. While it’s mostly instrumental, there is a smattering of vocals across their work. In Richard’s own words “sometimes it sounds like Crosby, Stills & Nash, sometimes it sounds like we’ve just come back from the pub”. According to people I was with, things might have sounded a bit better if they’d had decent vocal monitors onstage.

But you don’t go and see Time and Space Machine for the vocals – it’s all about the amazing accompanying visuals, the swirling hammond, the really tight drumming and the great musicianship that never strays into showing off. The band left the stage after an hour that went far too quick and didn’t come back for an encore, leaving us wanting more. Hopefully it won’t be long before they’re back.

The return of Celebricide

Posted on 02/06/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Legendary Brighton rock band Celebricide returned to the stage for a one-off gig, six years after they went into hibernation following the release of their debut album and effectively disappeared from the scene. A real shame, as on Thursday night’s showing they are still amazing and hopefully this won’t be the only time we see them.

Lead singer Tim Leopard started the evening in dark shades that made me think of Andrew Eldritch and Sisters of Mercy, but musically the band had a lighter touch and more variety. Dave Hughes on keyboards and Steve Barber on guitar were constantly inventive, the shadowy presence of Chris Anderson (now Crayola Lectern) on bass and the powerhouse of Emily Powell on drums never let up the rhythm.

Fly magazine called them “Elegant psychopaths… a lethal cocktail of Pulp, Roxy Music and The Fall. With literary lyrics about blackmail, contract killings and ruined lives…” Well, yes there’s an oddness and an aggression which is full on and confrontational but their new wave gothic rock belies a humour and self-depreciation which is also endearing.

Support came from Clowns. If you haven’t seen this Brighton band yet then you really ought to – they produce a really tight full-on garage-rock sound, and in Miles Heathfield (ex-Poppycocks) have a lead singer prone to prowl the stage and terrify audiences. Although tonight they omitted the Clown costumes that would occasionally appear at early gigs and even neglected to play their anthemic ‘She Says I’m A Clown’, they were really quite brilliant with an unrelenting driving snarling rhythm and beat from start to finish.

Their single is out on one of this blog’s favourite Brighton labels ‘Bleeding Hearts Recordings‘ and is well worth seeking out.

(All Photographs by Jon Southcoasting)

new single : Nordic Giants (feat Cate Ferris) / Shine

Posted on 31/05/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Brighton Music Blog favourites Nordic Giants release their debut single today.

If you’ve got a nagging feeling that they’ve had a single already, then you’re kind of right – Their “A Tree as Old as Me” EP came out in September 2010. But technically, that was an EP, not a single, so here they are with their debut. And if you’re thinking that you might have heard Shine before, then you’ll be right there too, because a different version was on the EP.

Shine is an absolutely epic track. Like the very best bits of Sigur Ros, but with female vocals, going from whispers to a barrage of wondrous noise in a heartbeat. Things start off quiet with Cate Ferris’ vocal line over what might be strings, or could be reversed guitars. Things stay restrained for a couple of minutes after which the tension slowly starts to build, then comes the drop, and then an explosion of noise, like fireworks in your soul.

B-side Together samples a Martin Luther King speech (which bizarrely has also been sampled by Linkin Park, of all people), and brings to mind a more melodic Godspeed You Black Emperor – a rousing moralistic oratory over rousing intense post-rock. There’s also an acoustic version of Shine thrown in for good measure, with simple piano lines and a string quartet replacing the guitars.

Shine is out on iTunes now.

new single : Jennifer Left / Black Dog

Posted on 28/05/2012 by brightonmusicblog

Last week, I mentioned that the new Jennifer Left single was due soon. The physical copies drop next monday, but for those of you living in the twenty first century who don’t want to be burdened with cds cluttering up your house, the digital version is out today.

Jennifer Left – Black Dog

Black Dog has been all over BBC 6Music and Radio 2, and rightly so. The song is fresh off-beat pop which is a great showcase for Jennifer’s almost jazzy vocals. Best of all, it has whistling. There’s not nearly enough of that these days. It’s backed with the title track of her forthcoming album Hushabye (which has more whistling, mandolins and some rather lush strings) as well as remixes from The Wild Knights (wobbly, glitchy house), Murder He Wrote (all stripped back and minimal) and Restlesslist (with added bleeps, surf guitar and reverb turned up to eleven on the vocals).

The video isn’t online yet, but here’s a version of Jennifer and her band playing the track for Balcony TV last year:

You can download the single on iTunes, or from her bandcamp site which also has an option to pre-order the physical release where you get the download right now.

If you’re wondering about the amazing brown paper dress in the promo shots, read more about it on the Create Studios blog.

Update : I’ve seen that someone has googled the blog looking for Jennifer Left’s label. The single is being released on Singing Hinny Music, with catalogue number SH001CD

new single : Kidda / Get Close

Posted on 22/05/2012 by brightonmusicblog

When I first wrote about Kidda, when he played at the Juice New Music Night back in December, I wrote ” there’s going to come a day in spring when the sun’s out, the skies are blue and the world is just coming back to life when one of his tunes comes on the radio and it’ll be just perfect”. I just checked the weather forecast for this week and the sun’s out every day. And a few days ago, I got a heads up about the new Kidda single. And guess what – it’s the perfect tune for right now.

Get Close is the sound of Daft Punk, Basement Jaxx and The Avalanches having a party with Junior Senior banging on the door to get in. Remixes come from JeKO and The Sneekers, and it came out on Brighton’s own Skint Records yesterday.

Upcoming stuff

Posted on 22/05/2012 by brightonmusicblog

This post is partly for me to remember exactly what I’m meant to be doing and when things are happening, but you can take it as a “Brighton Music Blog recommends…” if you like. It’s a collection of releases and happenings taking place over the next week or two, some of which might end up as full posts, if I get around to it.

Firstly, Soft Arrows have released their album “All Through The Sinew”. You can buy it download from Bandcamp here.

Next up is a couple of gigs in London, both on next thursday (31st). Two of my favourite bands – The Moulettes and Nordic Giants are launching their new material at shows at Bush Hall and Hoxton Hall respectively. Both promise to be fantastic events, but expensive bills for my car mean that I won’t be able to make either, sadly. At least that means I don’t have to choose between them.

The Moulettes gig is to launch their new album The Bear’s Revenge, which is out at the end of June. In advance of that, they’re releasing Sing Unto Me as the first single from the album on 4th June. The video is coming soon, so I’ll do a proper write up when I’m allowed to show it to you all. In the meantime, here’s a live performance of one of the many b-sides, a new track called Assault, which is very impressive indeed:

Talking of new singles, Jennifer Left also releases her new single on the 4th June. I’ve had a sneak preview of Black Dog, and it’s fantastic. It’s got whistling in it – not enough songs have whistling in them these days.

Finally, a couple more gigs to mention:

Bleeding Hearts are pushing the boat out slightly since it’s a Bank Holiday on 4th June – they’re starting a bit earlier at 7pm and have five acts rather than the normal three or four. Head along to the Prince Albert to hear Danny Kendall, Polyanna, Mary Hampton, Adrian Oxaal and Junior Electronics.

Then the following day (5th June), Com Truise is playing the Haunt. He’s not from Brighton, but support Anneka is, so I’ll be heading down to take some snaps and do them a write up too.