Sofar Sounds at Hotel Pelirocco

Posted on 27/03/2015 by brightonmusicblog

We haven’t been so great about getting out to gigs so far this year. The fact that it’s still so cold that I can still see my breath when I leave the house in the mornings and a couple of colds which have knocked me for six have meant that the allure of the sofa was stronger than that of leaving the house. Last night though, we were invited out to Hotel Pelirocco where the Brighton Sofar Sounds crew put on their latest night.

I think I described the last Sofar Sounds gig as possibly the most tightly packed gig that I’d ever been to. Last night was even busier. When I heard it was at Hotel Pelirocco I thought it would be in the bar area where I’d been to many nights in the past, but on arriving someone on the door asked if we were here for the comedy, and if we weren’t we were guided down some stairs, doubling back on yourself, going down some more stairs, turning corners until you had no idea quite which direction you were facing, into a room where the door wouldn’t open fully because of the number of bodies. It turns out that we had been directed to the Kraken’s lair – Pelirocco’s most recently refurbished rum-sponsored room.

First up was Alex KP, who initially looked fairly innocuous with just her voice and guitar to entertain us, but very early on proved she had a great soulful voice. By the end of her short set she’d also introduced a loop pedal and a violin into the mix. Definitely someone to watch out for in future (her album is apparently due next week). Next up was Slam The Poet, performing as a two piece under the new guise of MVC. Think Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius pip without so much facial hair and more freestyling.

After a short break to allow everyone to nip to the bar we came back to find that there was even less room than before because final act Our Girl had set up taking up twice as much space as the previous bands. We’ve written Our Girl frontwoman Soph Nathan before when she was writing and recording under her own name. Having a full band behind her has transformed her ideas into the real deal. She had the best songs of the night, sounding fantastic drenched in reverb.

You can find out more about Sofar Sounds Brighton on their facebook page or their website. Click on the pics below to view large.

GAPS / In, Around The Moments album news

Posted on 23/03/2015 by brightonmusicblog

GAPS announced news of their debut album today. “In, Around the Moments” is being released on 11th May on May Jane Cole’s I/AM/ME label, who also put out GAPS collaboration with May Jane Coles last year. On the same day as the album comes out, a new single All Me All You, taken from the album, also comes out. Anyone who’s seen the band live recently will recognise some of the visuals in the video. The full tracklist for In Around the Moments, which includes previous singles I Know It’s You, Keep You and Cascade, is below the video.

Cascade
I Know It’s You
All The Days Are Now
Inside Your Head
When I’m Gone
Keep You
A World Away
All Me, All You
Your Own Sweet Time
In Around The Moments
What Makes You

New Brighton Music

Posted on 11/03/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s this week new music roundup. Another busy week packed with the usual diversity of genres and styles

First up is Cousin, whose new EP Music to Polish Your Rifle To comes out on 23rd March. The follow to 2013’s Alternate Tunings for Regular People carries on the same themes, sounding like Tortoise if they were all into guitars. and will be co-released by Fcking The Night and Barely Legal Records on 12″ / download on. Take a look at the video for the closer to side A Which Schnitzel? here:

There’s not nearly enough psychedelic country soul that comes out of Brighton, so we were pleased to hear that Rocker Switch have released Show Me. They’ve pressed up just 45 7″s which you can buy direct from the band or you can pick up the track on download from the bandcamp link below:

Aashton has put out a new EP a few weeks ago which we’ve only just been given the heads up on. Humans contains three tracks of sophisticated house, and is available now on download from Beatport on Phonetic records. Here’s the title track

We caught Normanton Street play an intimate gig at the Gladstone a few weeks ago and loved it. You should do your very best to make it down to their show at The Haunt on Friday. In the meantime here’s the latest video they’ve put up, for the song New Dawn, taken from their Much Respect EP which came towards the end of last year.

Tigercub have posted up a new demo on Soundcloud. This is called Hold On:

Big Society‘s video for their new single Nowhere dropped a few weeks ago. If you like what you hear, you can catch them at their single launch at Sticky Mike’s on 24th March.

A Basement Story is the new side project from Alexander from the Dubarrys. There’s a few tracks of laid back breezy psychedelia up on soundcloud, the most recent of which is In Your Dreams:

Tomorrow night Orchards launch their new EP at The Hope & Ruin. Constantly moving is an EP of five tracks at the poppier end of math rock and is out now via bandcamp:

Finally we’ve just been told about the new single Exposed by Mon Frere. It’s take from their album Urban Glow features the vocal talents of Kate Wilds, and a video shot in the studio and out on Devil’s Dyke:

Album news – Curxes / Verxes

Posted on 04/03/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Brighton Music Blog favourites Curxes have announced details of their debut album Verxes. It’s coming out on 4th May on download with a single entitled What You Want appearing shortly beforehand. The full tracklist is below the video for Further Still, one of a number of the bands earlier singles which appear on the album.

X
Haunted Gold
Avant-Guarded
What You Want
XX
Further Still
Ghosts
Noise Pollution
XXX
Spectre
Run From the Funeral
Animal
XXXX
Valkyrie
Pure To Last
XXXXX

February Top Ten

Posted on 02/03/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Is it March already? February shot past, but there was still plenty of great music out there. Here’s our pick of the bunch, counting down from Demob Happy’s Nirvana-esque Young & Numb:

1 Demob Happy / Young & Numb

2 Mount Bank / Everything Is Glass

3 Remi Miles / Under Light Symphonies

4 IYES / Simmer (live)

5 Lionbark / Amongst The Many

6 Salt Ashes / Raided

7 The Fiction Aisle / Soon Enough The Morning Comes

8 Conrad Vingoe / Fail

9 Caveman Genius / My Ford Sierra Needs an Oil Change

10 Record/Start / Rock from Afar

January Top Ten

Posted on 02/02/2015 by brightonmusicblog

We didn’t do a top ten at the end of November. It had been a quiet month, and we were gearing up for our top twenty that we posted in December. Both months had a few great tunes that are too good to pass up though, so this month’s top ten has a few tracks from the end of last year too.

1 The Go! Team / The Scene Between

The Go! Team are back! Our top spot is the lead track from the band’s new album also called The Scene Between, out in March on Memphis Industries.

2 Anneka / End of It

End of It only features Anneka’s voice, but the layers and the textures and the harmonies demand repeat listens.

3 GAPS / She Bears a Flower

GAPS latest release came out right at the end of November last year sounding like some a futuristic remix of an Elizabethan childrens folk song.

4 Ambassadeurs / Forever

Forever is the lead track from Ambassadeurs latest EP out last month. Ambassadeurs play a gig at The Green Door Store at the end of the month, supported by Foreign Skin.

5 The Fiction Aisle / Blue

We liked Tom White’s new band’s first proper track so much that we got it into our end of the year round up, even though it hadn’t been in one of our top ten posts. Since we’re catching up on November here it would be wrong of us to omit it.

6 David Harks / Odyssey

We loved Open Arms, also taken from David Harks’ Lomo EP but shared much earlier in the year, as soon as we heard it but Odyssey was much more of a slow burner working it’s way under our skin until we couldn’t stop listening to it.

7 Tyrannosaurus Dead – Flying Ant Day

Tyrannosaurus Dead were the first band we ever interviewed on the blog, so it’s great to see their debut album (also called Flying Ant Day) finally released.

8 Seadog / Transmitter

Seadog’s Transmitter EP was launched at the end of December, while most of us were busy being distracted. The physical release is due in the springtime, but you can grab the EP now if you head over to Bandcamp.

9 Phantom Runners / Laserbeam

Laserbeam is a free download from Phantom Runnerscover on Soundcloud. Hanging out with Huey Morgan (who’s produced their last few tracks) is obviously rubbing off – this is the most laid back thing they’ve done.

10 Man Ray Sky / Ether Song

Finishing up with the title track from an EP from December, Ether Song is four minutes of breezy guitar pop.

GAPS at the Prince Albert photo gallery

Posted on 27/01/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Last night we braved the cold to head out to the Prince Albert where GAPS played a hometown gig following their recent mini tour. Since the last time we saw them they’ve gained some rather lovely visuals which meant they were standing in the dark – that we got any photos of the band was something of a miracle. They’ve also written an awful lot of new material too which has broadened their sound while still operating within the bands existing premise of folk + electronica, now taking in breakbeats and some trouser shaking bass. Support came folk troubadour Lloyd Williams who did some very clever things with a guitar, a banjo and a floor mounted accordion. Here’s our pics, click to view large:

New Music

Posted on 25/01/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Another week, another round of up new music for you all. First up is Laser Beam, the new single from Phantom Runners, which came from their sessions with Huey Morgan.

Last week Fear of Men posted up a video for their track America, from their album Loom, suitably filmed while they were on tour in America:

Lonely in Paradise is only the second track that I am L has put out there, but musically it sounds incredibly established, a bombastic ballad with Florence & The Machine style elements.

Seadog have a new EP out on Bleeding Hearts Recordings. Transmitter is the first track and also the name of the five track EP. The EP is out now as a download on bandcamp, with a 10″ coming in the spring.

We posted about the new The Go! Team track The Scene Between recently, but this week the video hit the internet. In Ian Parton’s own words “[I was] imagining things like aerial fly-bys, bad chromakey, Waco cable access, country versus the city, a choir in the wilderness. The key thing was I was definitely imagining looking down on landscapes, rivers and forests, but I could hear a slightly menacing, kind of pagan, thing going on too and a definite schizo thing between the verse and the chorus.”

Memory Loop have collaborated with Eva Bowan on a piece of electronica called 5115. Things start out quite ambient, but around the halfway mark the skittering beats kick in.

Around this time last year The Hundredth Anniversary did a session for indie website Daytrotter. You have to sign up to their website to listen to the sessions, but the band have put up Caroline from the session up as a free download on their soundcloud page:

ARC have just put out their debut EP Dopamine. Dopamine is track two EP, with track one being the jauntier 1664 Water, which we’re hoping is an ode to Kronenbourg.

Last but by no means least is some new music from Nightkites who put out a great EP last year called Drones. They’re back with another EP, this time called Drones 2, which is also a free download over on Soundcloud. Here’s track three – Dusk:

Album news – Will Mussett / November Storm

Posted on 19/01/2015 by brightonmusicblog

News has reached Brighton Music Blog of local singer songwriter Will Mussett‘s debut album. November Storm will be released on 31st January digitally and on cd via BBrat Recordings and has been produced by fellow Brightonian Alex Wells. While the bulk of the album was written by Will there are also some collaborations from heavy hitters from the music industry – 40,000 feet was co-written with Jim Irvin (who’s worked with Lana Del Rey and Chloe Howl) and John Fortis (who’s worked with Paolo Nutini and Laura Marling) helped out with In Loving Memory. You can take a listen to the title track below:

The album launch is at the Green Door Store on 31st January. Head over to the Facebook event for a link to buy cheap advance tickets

New Music

Posted on 12/01/2015 by brightonmusicblog

Here’s our first new music post of 2015. We’ve kept receiving music over the Christmas break, including an incredible five emails from one band about a track we’d already featured in a new music post. Odd.

First up is the new single from Moulettes, the aptly titled Glorious Year, out today via the usual digital distribution channels, which comes with remixes from Jimthefingers (aka Moulettes bassist Jim Mortimore) and Modernaire – an old pseudonym of the band they used when they made dance music which has largely been inactive for the last five years:

Ambassadeurs new release came out last week. The Forever EP has been released on his own Lost Tribe label, and can listen to it below on Soundcloud:

Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster drummer Rob Ling has got a new project called Krak Krak, which he describes as like the White Stripes on crack. They have an upcoming EP coming out in February on Sonic Anhedonic in February, but as an introduction here’s a track called It Sleeps:

After we put Yumi & The Weather into our top twenty at the end of the year last year we were promised that there would be some new music soon, and today a new track called Be There appeared on Soundcloud. We don’t know much about the track, but we’ll keep you posted with any news:

Finally, from nowhere we have a mini album from Black Black Hills who we had thought were missing in action somewhere. The eponymous release collects together the bands several singles along side a few other unreleased tracks and is available on Bandcamp now: