Category Archives: Uncategorized

Us Baby Bear Bones – what starts with a U ends with an I

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Us Baby Bear Bones EP Cover

Next Monday finally sees the release of “what starts with a U ends with an I”, the debut release from Us Baby Bear Bones, which we’ve been looking forward to for what seems like ages. The original announcement about the EP was made back in April last year, and we’re pleased to say that it’s been worth the wait.

The five tracks on the EP will be familiar to anyone who’s seen Us Baby Bear Bones live (and if you haven’t seen them live, then our advice is to remedy that as soon as possible – more information on that below), and two of them have videos up on YouTube which you might have seen. There’s also a re-recording of Rain which first appeared on last year’s Sea Monsters compilation.

The Dream-Pop tag gets used far too much these days, presumably by people stay away from cheese in the evenings and don’t remember what happened in the land of nod once they’ve woken up. Happily though Us Baby Bear Bones fit the genre like a glove, with dreamy textures, ethereal vocals, arpeggiated keyboards and crunching beats. The closest comparison is probably sometime Bjork collaborator Leila whose records are similarly brimming with influences but retain a pop sensibility.

The highlight for us the triumphant EP closer Swamp, which starts off with a drone note and builds and builds into glorious alternative electro pop. If this is what Puff Gandolfo, Daisy Warne and Luke Philips have achieved with their first release then the future is very bright indeed for Us Baby Bear Bones.

The full EP is available to stream over at This is Fake DIY now, and the launch party is Tuesday 11th June at Green Door Store. The EP is released on CD, limited to 216 copies whose combined covers make up a giant piece of artwork by Puff Gandolfo, which will be available to buy at the launch, or from bandcamp,

Today’s new singles : The New Union / The New Union EP and Milk & Biscuits / Hairstyles

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Today sees releases from two of our favourite bands at Brighton Music Blog. We’ve featured videos from both releases on the blog before, but these have appeared online so far before the release date that it’s worth reminding people about these again now that you can go and actually buy them.

The New Union

The first is The New Union EP, by The New Union, on Two Sisters Records. The EP features four tracks – Staying Friends, Rushing Thoughts, Where Do You Think You’re Going Wrong and Forget Again – and is out now on iTunes, or on 12″ from the likes of Resident Records. The band are holding the single launch at the Book Club in London on Thursday for this release, but you’ll be able to catch them in Brighton again soon supporting IYES on 24th July at The Hope. Get your tickets early for this gig, because with a line up like that, it WILL sell out. Hopefully we’ll have an interview with the band to share with you before then.

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Today’s other release is Hairstyles by Milk & Biscuits. Hairstyles is released on Big Salad Records, and is download only, available through iTunes (and probably some other places, although when this was written details weren’t confirmed). Milk & Biscuits play next Brighton gig is on 22nd June at the West Hill Centre.

May Top Ten

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Welcome to our second monthly Top Ten feature. It’s officially regular, now that we’ve made it two months in a row! As with last month, it’s loosely based on what Last.fm has told me I’ve listened to, although this month it seemed to bear no relation to what iTunes was recording for the play counts. Also one of the tracks is just a YouTube video, so that didn’t appear on iTunes or Last.fm. So without further ado, here’s what we’ve been loving this month:

1) Watching Her Dance / DA-10

Watching Her Dance appeared on our radar roughly at the same time as we heard about DA-10’s The Shape of Space EP, but it was the EP which was getting the attention and the PR push. Several weeks later it’s this mode dancefloor friendly free download which is still on heavy rotation.

2) Battersea / AK/DK

Battersea is the lead track from AK/DK’s new cassette only release Dispatch #3, and we love it’s crazy squelchiness

3) Rio / Cave Painting

The video for Rio surfaced online a few months ago, but the EP finally hit the shops on 29th April. The packaging is every bit as gorgeous as you’d expect from Cave Painting, as is the quality of the music. There’s only a hundred of these out there, so good luck hunting one out

4) Daddy / IYES

This track was a bit of a surprise after the vocal pop of Lighthouse and Glow, but Daddy showed that IYES are just as assured at Balearic house

5) Goddess of War / Phantom Runners

Phantom Runners were one of our discoveries in the run up to the Great Escape. We didn’t manage to catch their set (although hopefully we’ll be there when they play at the Blind Tiger at the next Les Enfants Terribles night on 28th June), but we think their debut single as a great slice of indie pop

6) Anneka / Deliver

Not a single, or even a physical or digital release, but just a Youtube video, Deliver was still one of the best tracks out of Brighton we heard this month

7) Abraxical Solapse / Physics House Band

The Physics House Band’s Horizons / Rapture mini LP came out in April, and while it’s not as accessible as some of the poppier acts on the list, it’s certainly just as rewarding. You probably won’t be whistling any of the songs in the shower, but you will keep going back to them over and over

8) Hold On / Luo

Luo seem to be growing more and more with every new track we hear from them, and Hold on is no exception. In a few releases they’ve expanded their range from glitchy chill out and currently sound like a more electronic Physics House Band. Give them a few months and the sky’s the limit

9) Fallback / Catherine Ireton

A little while back, our friends over at the Some Of It Is True blog started up a record label called Hidden Trail. We got a bit distracted and haven’t got around to writing about the label’s first release yet – a compilation of some of their favourite tracks they’ve come across – but our favourite track from what we’ve listened to so far is Catherine Ireton’s Fallback

10) Goldfish Song / Crayola Lectern

We’re still listening to The Fall and Rise of Crayola Lectern at Brighton Music Blog HQ, and have grown rather fond of The Goldfish Song, a tune about suicidal pets sounding not a million miles away from The Beatle’s Day In The Life

Weekend Gig Picks

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Now that we’re done with the madness of May, things are getting back to normal in the world of Brighton gigs.

tigercubTigercub headline the Green Door Store on Thursday night, with support from Semper Teens, Animal Language and the Flash Gordons. Tickets are four pounds. Staying in the part of town, Ellekaye play at the North Laine pub.

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LNLThere are loads of great gigs on Friday night. Kovak top the bill at the Hope alongside Storms and Cat Fire Radio, and The Self Help Group are on at the Brunswick with Eliza Jaye, The Beautiful Word and Bella McKendree. Friday Night also sees some of Brighton’s regular nights with strong line ups – Late Night Lingerie at Sticky Mikes is headlined by Skirts with The Repeat Prescriptions also on the line up, and it’s also Les Enfants Terribles at the Blind Tiger, with Written in Waters, Spit Shake Sisters, Calico and Glossy Coat.

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WytchesSaturday is Kemptown Carnival. There are loads of bands on the bill, including Derriere, The Kalakuta Millionaires and Carnival Collective. The afterparty is at the Blind Tiger from 8pm and is headlined by Transformer. Up at the Hope, The Wytches are having their single launch party, and it’s free!

New Singles – Shrine, The Wytches, Two Jackals (and a bonus remix from Curxes too)

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Here’s a few new singles which have hit our radar recently.

First up is Shrine, who headlined Friday night at the Nice Weather For Airstrikes festival on friday night last week. Their new single is called Kursk. Here’s the video, and the soundcloud which has a free download option:

Next up is The Wytches. Beehive Queen is out on Hate Hate Hate records next monday, limited to 300 7″s, and the launch is at The Hope this saturday.

Cartagena by Two Jackals is out on Seven Dials Records on 1st June and was produced by Joel Cadbury and Pablo Clements from UNKLE.

Finally, we’ve got a remix of Further Still by Curxes. When we first posted about the track back in March we mentioned that there was a remix due, so here it is, with Avec Sans on the knobs, complete with a link to a free download:

Esben & The Witch / Wash The Sins Not Only The Face remixes

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Earlier this year, Esben and the Witch released their new album Wash The Sins Not Only The Face, and this week have released an accompanying album of remixes for free. The cast of remixers spreads wide, with Maps, David Andrew Sitek (from TV on the Radio), Lumbers, Klad Hest (from BEAK>), Teeth of the Sea and Brighton’s own Woodpecker Wooliams.

Some sites I’ve seen have managed to embed the fancy widget they’ve got online to stream and download the tracks, but after spending most of the night trying, I’m giving up and will just direct you to this link instead!

 

New Videos : British Sea Power, Crayola Lectern, Flash Bang Band, Self Help Group

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Here’s four new videos that we’ve come across this week.

First is British Sea Power with a video for Hail Holy Queen. The track isn’t the new single (that’s going to be Loving Animals), but the band made a video for this anyway:

Then we have the beautifully shot Slow Down by Crayola Lectern. We love the album, and Slow Down appeared in our April Top Ten post, so it’s no surpise that we’re giving it another mention.

Next is the new Flash Bang Band single, If You’re Driving. The single is out digitally on 3rd June, and the band next play in Brighton at the Blind Tiger on 9th June at the Root Experience’s Games Fete.

Finally we have the utterly chaming new video from The Self Help Group. The Rapture was filmed around Brighton (see how many locations you can spot!), and is out now on iTunes.

Bank Holiday Weekend Gig Picks

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This weekends gig picks come in the form of two festivals – one taking place just up the road in Glynde near Lewes, and the other taking place in the Druids Arms by the Level.

Meadowlands features dozens of Brighton bands, so I’m not going to try and list them all. It’s a weekend festival with camping, so fingers crossed for the weather. If we were going, we’d be making a bee-line for British Sea Power, the Physics House Band, Interlocutor, Clowns, Bent Cousin, AK/DK, Kovak, and Nordic Giants.

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If you like your festivals a bit more local then Nice Weather for Airstrikes Festival, now in it’s fifth year, could be more your cup of tea. The line up is headlined by Shrine, Codes in the Clouds and the Hundredth Anniversary over three nights.

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Finally if festivals aren’t your thing, then on Sunday night The Impellers play a late night funk and soul gig at The Warren.

Great Escape Gallery

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What a weekend – I saw over thirty bands over the weekend, many of which were local. Here’s a gallery of them all. We’ve got: Jennifer Left, Justin Saltmeris, Curxes, Kinnie The Explorer, Us Baby Bear Bones, Anushka, Fear of Men, Martin Rossiter, The Bobby McGees, IYES, Jacko Hooper, Kins and The Beautiful Word. As usual, click on the image to view large:

 

 

Curxes Great Escape Interview

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Brighton Music Blog favourites Curxes played twice at the Alternative Escape yesterday. We caught up with them just after they came off stage at The Mesmerist:

Curxes

Brighton Music Blog : Hello Curxes! How was the gig?

Macaulay Hopwood : Amazing – sweaty, crazy – the usual festival fayre. Really Good.
Roberta Fidora : All powered by cough syrup.
MH : Cough syrup and beer
RF : Isn’t that a Flaming Moe?

BMB : You’re playing twice over the weekend. You’ve just played on the Les Enfants Terribles stage at the Mesmerist. What’s the other one?

MH : We’re also playing at the Black Dove, across town. That’s for Southsea Fest stage.
RF : It sounds slightly sinister, the name – “The BLACK Dove”
MH : Sounds a bit dark, but hopefully it’ll suit our sound.

Curxes

BMB : What other Brighton bands are you looking forward to seeing at the Great Escape?

MH : There’s a few bands that I really want to see – We managed to catch half of Us Baby Bear Bones who were on just before we were on a different stage. Hopefully we’ll catch them when they play again.
RF: And Chvrches as well (BMB : who Curxes remixed earlier this year)
MH : Hopefully we can get to hang out with them a bit
BMB : Anyone else, or are you just going to drop in and see what you find?
MH : Despite playing, I haven’t actually got a wristband! So it’s a bit limited as to what I can go and see! I’ll go and see as many as I can.

BMB : Your live set up now has three people

RF : That’s Raife from Strangers. Say hello Raife!
Raife : Hello!
MH : Raife is playing drums with us at the moment. I often moonlight playing bass with Strangers, so we’re doing a bit of band swapping.
BMB : When did the decision to beef up the band come about?
RF : When I couldn’t count in time!
MH : We thought it was cool having a drummer onstage. Raife is a really good mate anyway, we have a good time jamming together, so we thought he would be a good addition to the setup.
RF : It adds more to the spectacle…
MH : He’s a good looking chap as well. We never had too many girls come and see us before, but now that Raife’s with us…
RF : Now we have to clear loads of pants off stage after we play!

Curxes

BMB : You’re starting to be described as “Blitz Pop” in various places. What does that mean for people who haven’t heard you? Where did the name come from?

MH : An obsession with the second world war, and we’re quite poppy, I suppose. It’s noisy, it sounds like the blitz. It seems to fit the music pretty well.
RF : We leave a trail of destruction in our wake!

BMB : Your latest single Further Still was also out earlier this year. What’s coming up next?

MH : We’ve got another release coming out fairly soon, possibly with a single label, but nothing’s been finalised yet. It’s a song called Valkyrie which is what we close our set with at the moment. It seems to go down well – it’s noisy, it’s got a bad-ass trumpet in it. What more could you want!