It’s only been less than 24 hours since our last new music post but in that time two of our favourite bands have posted up videos to their new singles.Rather than wait until next week to post them up we thought we’d share them now
Spit Shake Sisters new track Blasphemer is officially their debut single, and comes out on Dead Fun Records on 31st October. The launch party for the single is at Bleach on the same day with Strange Cages and Tombes also on the bill.
We shared the audio for the new GAPS track She Bears a Flower a week ago, but here’s the video, directed by Walt McNee. Apparently tickets have almost sold out for their upcoming debut London show, so if you’re planning on getting tickets, don’t hold back.
BentCousin have a new single out, in collaboration with producer Guiville. It’s called The Last One and features 80s guitars and the twins distinctive vocals, and is out now on Bandcamp:
Normanton Street‘s next EP comes out on 31st October. The EP’s called Much Respect, and the first track out there from it is One Evening. The launch party for the EP is on release day down at The Haunt.
We posted about the new Fire Eyes single, out this week, in our last New Music post where we posted up the AKDK remix. Here’s the original version of Hide Out:
The video for the new Ed Prosek single was premiered on Clash Music today. Hold On Tight came out last week, but the launch party is on Sunday 16th November at Bleach.
Finally, we have the debut single from a new Brighton band called Jolta. It’s called Easily Grounded and it’s released on 10th November via Republic of Music:
Here at Brighton Music Blog we love a festival. The festival we’re writing about today though isn’t actually a music festival but a photography festival. Throughout October Brighton Photo Biennial and Brighton Photo Fringe have events all over town. The event within the festival we’re writing about is music related however – One of the exhibitions that forms part of Brighton Photo Fringe is being held at the Hope and showcases the collaborative photography between Dark Horses and Ali Tollervey, who works so closely with the band that he’s considered a member. Tonight there’s the private view for the exhibition and a Dark Horses gig too, so we sent over a few questions to find out a bit more about his work with the band:
Brighton Music Blog : How did you end up being Dark Horses photographer?
Ali Tollervey : I was already friends with Lisa & had photographed her performing before the band that Dark Horses would become had taken shape. I was actually staying at Lisa’s house for a brief period around the time that Dark Horses were evolving, they were recently back from early recording sessions at the Key Club Studios in Michigan with Richard Fearless. New members were joining. Lisa had played me the recordings from the states, I was excited by the project & believed in the music. It seemed very natural to work together & developed organically. After hearing a demo Kasabian offered them tour support. Things all moved very quickly, within a few short weeks we were on stage at Brixton & Wembley.
BMB : Were you considered a member from the beginning?
TV : Again it’s something that evolved .There was always the idea of collaboration, a collective approach, trying to create an energy, something more than just music. There was visual feedback as counterpoint to the sound..they fed into each other..As I was on board from the start we grew together. It was immersive. I was pretty much at every show / tour for the first couple years. We were a family or better a gang. It felt like we were all working together, my role just happened to be visual. It’s more usual for photographers to be outsiders, quickly meeting a band for a press shot or maybe joining them for part of a tour`. This was different, we’d be lugging equipment together, on stage together, if necessary sharing beds together.. Aside from the photography I was involved with other areas relating to the band.
BMB : What do you remember of the first proper shoot you did with them?
TV : It was a late evening group shot at Lisa’s home which became our ‘clubhouse’. They were taken in front of a back wall which happens to be adorned with a giant floor to ceiling black & white print by Irving Penn of the Hell’s Angels – a group portrait in itself. So there were twice the sets of eyes staring back at me. (On a side note we realised afterwards that every male member of the Hell’s Angels in the Penn backdrop bore a striking resemblance to our guitarist Bobby Waterson, the only band member unable to make the shoot)
BMB : When you’re shooting Dark Horses, how much input do they have and how much is about your vision for the band?
TV : Everybody involved with Dark Horses has their own vision they bring but together it works.. Though it’s a collaboration, we all trust each others individual strengths & input. There’s a dialogue but we have our own areas we work in. So I have freedom… Pierre Angélique the filmmaker behind the videos has played a very significant role also.
BMB : Your work with the band covers reportage shots, promo shoots and live shots, have you got any favourite local locations or venues to shoot them?
TV : I’d say it’s the reportage I enjoy the most… I don’t have favourite locations & don’t tend to shoot that much locally… Anywhere can be good.. There was a particularly hot & atmospheric derelict building we used as a rehearsal space in Malta with an abandoned wedding dress floating in a heavy old wardrobe.. a beautiful forest we explored in Switzerland.. We did a show with Sigur Ros in an 8000 seater outdoor amphitheatre in Perth which was an incredible setting, particularly memorable for me as I’d broken my toes earlier that day so fighting my way through the crowd from the stage at the bottom of the valley to the very top for a wide shot was pretty scary. The best however shots could equally come from a Holiday Inn car park.
BMB : You’ve traveled quite a bit with Dark Horses, occasionally taking an exhibition of your photos with you. Are there any tales you can share, or does what happen on tour stay on tour?
TV : It does to an extent stay on tour. it’s an amazing thing to do but mostly not that glamorous. Some of the best after parties happen in the back of the van.The best part is the time spent together, experiences shared & the people you meet along the way. In Malta (with Kinemastik & Bare Bones) we took over an entire subway underpass as an exhibition space, pasting giant prints directly to the walls, we had a launch party down there too with a bar & music. Rather than being taken down afterwards the prints stayed up long after we’d left slowly disintegrating over time. We’ve spent quite a bit of time with the Dandy Warhol’s & that’s always good. We played an impromptu game of Boule with Pete Doherty in a field in France once. I can’t remember who won.
Bjork by Ali Tollervey
BMB : Is your music photography just limited to Dark Horses, or have you shot other bands?
TV : I’m not solely a music photographer but I’ve always been involved with music in one way or another, I ran a record shop, promoted shows for several years, worked on music videos etc so I have photographed many bands in different contexts.. My first proper official live show where I had a photo pass was Bjork, I had a very basic old film camera & all the old pros in the photo pit must have thought I was a joke. My first real portrait session was with David Axelrod, I got to spend an hour with him which was amazing. Like a lot photographers I used to document the scenes going on around me. I realise I don’t go to so many gigs with my camera anymore though, I think I just want to enjoy the show.
BMB : Finally, will you be shooting the band at their gig on 12th October?
TV : I haven’t decided yet, it will be hard not to but they’ve worked out an amazing set for this one off show so I may wish to simply be a spectator.
For this weekend’s new music post we’ve got three remixes, with Brighton acts both writing the original songs and on remix duties
First up is Play by Fickle Friends, which originally came out on Duly Noted back in March this year. Yesterday Foreign Skin shared their remix of it, which you can listen to here:
Fire Eyes‘ new single Hide Out comes out next Monday on Random Acts of Vinyl. The 7″ comes with a mix by Barry Adamson, but there’s also a free download of AK/DK‘s remix available on soundcloud:
Finally we have a remix of the title track from Native Roses current album Shadows with Ambassadeurs on additional production duties:
When I first started buying records, a bootleg was something very different from what it is now. Bootlegs used to be live recordings of gigs – if you were very lucky they’d be direct from the sound desk, but more often than not they’d be taped by someone in the crowd so you’d end up with muffled sound and the audience singing along. Next week the Prince Albert and Brightelmstone Promotions are putting on a four night event called The Bootleg Festival, less about mash ups, and more about the live recordings – every night is getting recorded with ticket holders getting a download of one song from each act and full recordings going on sale. And since it’s being put on with the full cooperation of the Prince Albert, recordings from the sound desk are guaranteed! There’s some great Brighton bands playing with Clowns, Crayola Lectern, Flash Bang Band and Thieves by the Code already on the line ups with more bands yet to be announced. Advance tickets can be bought online here.
News has just come in of Demob Happy‘s first proper single on the eve of them heading out on their first headline tour. Succubus is coming out on 17th November on Milk Parlour Records on 7″ and download and will be backed with a cover of The Technoheads I Wanna Be a Hippy. The band’s tour starts tomorrow in Bristol and ends up with a hometown show at Bleach on 17th October.
Another bumper New Music post for you all. We were out at gigs every night last week, so things have built up once again.
Our first track is by Heliopause, with I seem too cold (Faulty remix). Faulty is a night that Heliopause has been putting on at Brighton Digital Festival for the past few years and is taking place as I type at Fitzherberts. This is what happens when you spend your time going to gigs rather than writing blog posts.
Oslo Parks launch their debut single Twin on Thursday (2nd October) with a gig at the Green Door Store. Here’s a remix of the single from Germany’s VIMES:
Another demo from Black Honey surfaced last week. The Taste doesn’t offer any big surprises from their previous uploads – more widescreen American sounding rock’n’roll:
Swing Song is the new single from Kovak. It’s coming out on 20th October, and the launch party is going to be held at The Hope on 8th November:
Clash premiered the new video from Tyrannosaurus Dead last week. Local Bullies is taken from the band’s forthcoming album Flying Ant Day, which is available to pre-order now.
Momotaro have released a re-recorded version of their track Kite, which originally appeared on their album Second Side. It’s been released by German label Blue Dye and comes backed with a house remix by Deep Blast & Ricco Rizzo.
Red Shortbread is the debut track from Jack Watts. It was produced by Tim Bidwell (who’s worked with the likes of Jennifer Left and Cate Ferris), and the video was made by Create Studio’s Kenny McCracken:
Lilly is taken from The DuBarrys forthcoming self titled EP. Other than the name of the EP, and that one of the other tracks is the lovely, acoustic Undress Your Soul, details of the EP are rather sketchy and we can’t even find so much as a release date for it. More details as we hear of them:
Finally, we have Obelisk, a new video from Battery Operated Orchestra. Obelisk is taken from the album Incomplete Until Broken, which is available now on Bandcamp.
Anushka are back with a new single and tour. Atom Bombs is being released on Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Records on October 13th and comes with a dub mix and a some remixes, including the NameBrand Sound remix featured here. To support the release the duo are out on tour, playing at Audio on thursday night (2nd October).
On Thursday Fear of Men kicked off their first headline tour of the UK, which is also the last round of promotion for their album Loom. Last week they also put out a video for album track Tephra, directed by the band themselves, which shows the effigy created for the front cover of Loom being burned to ash, also marking the end the band’s links to the album. The band have already played Norwich last night and are also taking in Leeds and Manchester this weekend, with the tour concluding in London at Concrete on 2nd October.
Our pics from of Fear of Men, and support The Hundredth Anniversary, are below the video.
Dog in the Snow‘s new single was launched at the Green Door Store on Wednesday this week. Africa came out this week on Tidal Wave records, and you can listen to it on Soundcloud. Our pics from the gig, including shots of support Momotaro, are below.
Brighton Music Blog 