Weekend Gig Picks

Time for this week’s regular post on the weekend’s gigs that have caught our eye. There’s some interesting this time round – an afternoon gig, a gig celebrating twenty years since the headliner’s first single, a gig accompanied by a Caribbean supper and more.

pforpersiaTomorrow night we’ve spotted that P for Persia are headlining at The Hope. We haven’t seen them live for a while, having missed the launch of their split single with Speak Galactic, but the few times we have caught them they’ve been brilliant live. We won’t be missing this. Support comes from Fat Bicth and Headquarters.

On Friday night there’s a Beatbet vs Haha Fresh electronica night at The Globe. It’s not your normal venue for a gig, but then Beatabet aren’t the types to go about things the way you’d expect. DA-10 and Foreign Skin are on the bill, alongside Blue Ducks, Morgan Hislop and Hypnotized, and Beatabet beatabetDJs. Meanwhile, somewhere else you wouldn’t expect a gig Ez Stone is performing at The Writers Place at 9 Jew Street, at an event called Come Rhyme With Me. Alongside his gentle folk, there will be spoken word poetry and as promised above, a Caribbean Supper.

And then on Saturday Night, My Life Story perform at Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar. It’s twenty years and a few days since Jake Shillingford and his band released Girl A, Girl B, Boy C, which they followed up with a string of orchestral pop hits throughout the nineties. These days Jake is Head of Music Business at BIMM, although the band still get together for an annual gig up in London, and this is the professorfirst time in years that the band have gone on tour. Also on Saturday Night, Professor Elemental is playing at the Green Door Store, alongside steampunk visuals. He’ll be supported by Gilli BloodAxe and Invokal. If staying out late isn’t such an appealing prospect, then perhaps you should pop along to the Brunswick where they’re holding an afternoon gig from 2pm, headlined by Grasshopper, a band with talent that surpasses their years.

Ital Tek – Control


Ital Tek Control

Yesterday, barely twelve months after last year’s fantastic Nebula Dance, Ital Tek released a new mini-album Control. It’s available on double 12″ and download, and is released on Mike Paradinas’ Planet Mu records. You can order it from there and listen to samples of each track, or there’s a preview mix up on Soundcloud:

Moulettes tour and free download

Moulettes

Shortly after I posted about the free download of Songbird in one of our New Music roundups a few weeks ago, the Moulettes camp got in touch to point out that they weren’t giving out the download to celebrate the end of the promotion of The Bear’s Revenge, but to celebrate the start of the last leg of the touring of it, before they get their heads down to finish work on Constellations, their third album due for release in spring of next year. Sadly their’s no Brighton date on the tour – the band played at Middle Farm’s Applefest in October – but London’s not that far away, is it?

Since then the band have announced that they aren’t just giving away Songbird as a free download but a whole six track mix tape, entitled Farewell To The Bear, featuring three tracks from The Bear’s revenge as well as a b-side, a remix and a live track. Assault is one of the best things they’ve ever done and is utterly breathtaking live, so it’s good to see it having more of a life than just being a b-side.

Here’s the full list of tour dates. Support comes from Sompting’s Josienne Clarke (with her guitarist Ben Walker)

Nov 15th – The Grand, Clitheroe
Nov 16th – The Stables, Wavendon
Nov 20th – Arlington Arts Centre, Newbury
Nov 21st – The Jericho Tavern, Oxford
Nov 22nd – The Greystones, Sheffield
Nov 23rd – The Leopard, Doncaster
Nov 24th – Village Hall, Marnhull, Dorset
Nov 28th – The Factory, Barnstaple
Nov 29th – The Joiners, Southampton
Nov 30th – Islington Assembly Hall, London
Dec 4th – Glee Club, Nottingham
Dec 5th – The Met, Bury, Lancs
Dec 6th – Thekla, Bristol
Dec 7th – Monkey Bar, Swansea

 

Dog in the Snow – Africa

“Africa Live Video” said link in the email we got about Dog in the Snow’s new update. We don’t really do live video on the blog, but we clicked through anyway since we’ve loved everything that Dog in the Snow have done so far. We shouldn’t have been worried – the only hint that it might be a live video is the slightest smattering of clapping as the video fades in and out. Outside of that it could be a studio performance it’s so flawless. The videography utilises double exposures and never shows the audience, but it turns out that it is a genuine live video, shot at the Hoxton Bar and Grill last May. Africa is sparse but melodic, somewhere between folk and pop yet at the same time something all of it’s very own. Take a look below.

GAPS – I Know It’s You

Brighton duo GAPS have announced a new single, I Know It’s You, premiered last week on The Line of Best Fit and coming out on 9th December. The single is getting a 7″ and digital release on Sexbeat who also put out the Keep You / Cascade double a side earlier this year, and the flip will be a new track called Inside Your Head.

GAPS

I Know It’s You has less folk influence than their previously heard material, opting instead for four minutes of sleepy ethereal pop, further cementing their stake as one of Brighton’s hottest new bands. Links to pre-order the single are available on the Sexbeat website.

Nordic Giants – Dismantle Suns

At the end of last month, the Nordic Giants played a gig at the Concorde to launch the second part of their Build Seas, Dismantle Suns EP.

Nordic Giants

The Nordic Giants have long been one of Brighton’s best live bands, with their gothic outfits, stunning visuals and huge huge songs. Since this was a bit more of a special occasion they were aided and abetted by The Shadow Enigma, a collection of musicians who added additional strings, brass and percussion to bolster the band’s already massive sound.IMG_1687es

The EP starts with long time live favourite Little Bird. The smooth start with gentle jazzy keyboards and female vocals turns out to be a smokescreen for the Nordic Giants brutality with huge clattering drums kicking in two thirds of the way through. The second track Mechanical Minds also features pianos and big drums, which die down every now and then to reveal old samples warning of a dangerous future. Strangest Tides is a calmer affair, with tender female Scandinavian vocals over something akin to Sigur Ros’ less guitarry work. EP Closer Dark Clouds Mean War is brooding and cinematic, with thick lush strings and simple piano line building up throughout the song, and it’s only in the last seventy seconds of the track that percussion kicks in, the Dark Clouds in the title bringing their promise of a storm.

IMG_1778eesBoth parts of the Build Seas, Dismantle Suns EP are available to buy through the Nordic Giants webshop.

New Music – Faux Flux, Flash Bang Band, Tigercub, Plasticine, Bentcousin, A Lily, Heliopause

Here’s another post of new music that has come to our attention. We literally can’t keep up – we started writing this about a week ago, but every day there’s been new things to add to it. Good work Brighton!

Faux Flux – Week Long War EP

Thew new two track Faux Flux EP is out now on Donut Records. The EP features two new tracks, the poppy Week Long War and the more ethereal As Kids. Grab the EP as a free download over on Bandcamp now.

Flash Bang Band – Thinking above my Station

Flah Bang Band are continuing with their effort to put out a video for every track on their Bite Your Tongue album, this time filmed in an ex-DIY store.

Tigercub – Mother

Mother is the third video from the debut EP by Tigercub, which got released on iTunes last week on Club The Mammoth records. Videos for the other two tracks – Little Rope and Centrefold – have been online for a while, but Mother has just popped up to coincide with the release.

Plasticine – Dreamers of the Day

Dreamers of the Day is the debut single from Plasticine, who we first caught back at Sea Monsters earlier this year. You can grab it as a free download over on Soundcloud.

Bentcousin – Sunglasses in Winter

Pat and Amelia from Bentcousin are only in their early twenties, so it’s more than impressive for them to be tackling a subject like domestic violence. Sunglasses in Winter appears on Creechers, a new compilation on Creech Records. You can download it for free here. The compilation also includes Fire In The Sky by Dog in the Snow, which we featured a few weeks back.

A Lily – Lupa

A Lily is the musical project from James Vella, one of the guys responsible for Fatcat Records. Lupa is lovely stuff – lush strings, twinkling electronica and melodic vocals. As well as the bandcamp links, you can also pick it up on 12″ from Resident in town.

Heliopause – Eden

Eden is the fourth of a set of EPs put out by Heliopause as the band goes through a bit of a transition period. Each of the tracks on the release are just vocal and guitar, gentle almost-folk, but Richard Davis – the constant member in the group – is in the process of putting together a full band for the new material he’s working on.

Weekend Gig Pick – Hidden Trail Records album launch

Normally around this time of week we post up our recommendations for the forthcoming weekend’s gigs. This week we’ve picked out just one for your attention, which is also an album launch for a new compilation which features some great Brighton bands.

HTR Album Launch Poster - FinalHidden Brighton is a new compilation from our friends over at Hidden Trail – the label associated with the Some Of It Is True blog. It’s being launched with a gig on Friday Night at the Palmeira with three of the bands who contributed to the compilation playing live. The Self Help Group, Hella Better Dancer and Ellie Ford will be performing, and the album also features contributions from Kill Moon, The Raving Beauties, The Standard Lamps, The Hundredth Anniversary, tiNhearT, Flash Bang Band, Woodland Blue, Kokopelli and Us Baby Bear Bones. Proceeds from the album will go towards charity Grace Eyre, who support local children with learning difficulties, and all acts have donated their tracks free of charge. Tickets for the gig will be available on the door or in advance from the venue or Resident Records.

 

Wild Cat Strike EP launch at the Green Door Store with The New Union and Poles Apart

Last night Wild Cat Strike played at the Green Door Store to celebrate the launch of their new EP Attentive Blood, and we went along to record the even for posterity and to share a bit of the atmosphere for those who couldn’t make it. The EP is out now via bandcamp through the link below. Support came from equally great Poles Apart and The New Union.

click pics to view large:

IYES – ‘Til Infinity

Since the end of last year, anyone whose asked us about the Brighton music scene has probably had their ear bent by me telling them that the best new band around were IYES. And now, about a year after we were knocked off our feet by the stunning Lighthouse, their debut single ‘Til Infinity has landed.

Sparse and simple for the first minute with just tribal drums, handclaps and Melis’ vocals, the track then explodes into life with a pop chorus that’s simultaneously both breathy and vulnerable, and powerful with its swirling chiming guitars, and clashing cymbals. Midway through the track IYES’ other half Josh gets a vocal turn adding a bit more colour to proceedings, and later there’s a bridge that drops everything to almost nothing, before one last triumphant chorus, and then at just three minutes everything’s over and done with – as all great pop songs should be.

IMG_0612es

Best of all, they’ve used an apostrophe and one ‘l’, which this pedant secretly very happy.

IYES is on sale now via iTunes on Duly Noted records.