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October Top Ten

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Somehow, we’ve turned two! Two years of gig going, photo taking, demo listening and doing out best to share the music we love coming out of Brighton. Here’s what we loved in October:

1 Eagles For Hands – Lisbon

Eagles for Hands gave out their new EP for free for a short while earlier in the month and the title track, which sounds not dissimilar to 808 State at the height of the powers has been our most played track this month. The free download is over now (you should have grabbed it when we told you about it!) but it’s worth every penny you’ll pay on iTunes.

2 Momotaro – Reverie
3 Gaps – Belong


Giving away a free track in return for signing up to a bands mailing list is the new black. Or something like that. Momotaro and Gaps are two of our favourite discoveries this year and you can get these tracks just for the price of an email address.

4 The Beautiful Word – Eating Me, Eating You

“It’s not rude!” Megan and Emily blush when they introduce this track live. Of course it’s not, but a bit of innuendo doesn’t do anyone any harm. The video for Eating Me, Eating You dropped this month, and the track appears on The Beautiful Word’s album Particles which we’ll be reviewing soon.

5 Electric Soft Parade – The Sun Never Sets Around Here

The Sun Never Sets Around Here in ESP’s new single to go alongside their minitour. The band have just announced a Christmas date at the Unitarian Church on 6th December. Get your tickets quick because it’s going to sell out fast.

6 Prince Vaseline – Sunset

Lovely lovely stuff from a Milke & Biscuits side project

7 Nordic Giants – Neotenie

Neotenie appears on part one of the Nordic Giants Build Seas Dismantle Suns double EP. We’ll be putting up something about part two – the Dismantle Suns half – very soon.

8 Yumi & The Weather – All We Can

The lead track from Yumi & The Weather’s debut EP (and it’s accompanying video) is a much sunnier track than the weather outside at the moment. We’ve had it on repeat to bring a bit of summer back into our lives. The Vondelpark rework that’s also on the EP is quite tasty too.

9 Moulettes – Songbird

Moulettes gig at Applefest (which we missed because we didn’t want caught in the torrential rain in Lewes), and their giveaway of this track reminded up just how much we love Moulettes. From the look of their Facebook / Twitter streams, they’re working on new material right now. Can’t wait!

10 Alice Amelia – #1000 Dreams

We rather liked Alice Amelia’s free download that she gave away earlier this month – sophisticated sparse piano and a lovely vocal. She’s playing down at Above Audio this Wednesday for free as well!

Weekend Gig Picks

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Just a short and sweet weekend gig post this week, because we’re darting off to see Nordic Giants at the Concorde soon (there are still tickets on the door apparently, and they’re a brilliant live band).

Thursday night is Halloween, so it’s only right that our gig pick for the evening is Green Door Store’s Halloweiner event, with Tigercub headlining. It’s a late one though – it doesn’t start until 11pm, which isn’t exactly ideal if you’ve got work in the morning.

Halloweiner

Friday night is Lout’s regular Brighton Rocks night at Sticky Mike’s. This week London Commands You, The Fuses, Lonesome Heights and Dear Joseph play.

Then on Saturday Jipsy Magic launch their new single at the Blind Tiger. So Serious comes out as a free download this weekend, and they’re holding a free party to celebrate.

Kins – new single and tour

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Kins eponymous album has been out since July, but until now there hasn’t been a single released from it. All this changes when they release Aimless on 18th November. The band are heading out on a national tour starting later this week culminating in a hometown gig at The Hope on the 21st of November.

update : we’ve just seen that there’s a video for Aimless up on the Vice website, but it’s not one that we can embed into the blog for now.

Kins

Thurs 31st Oct Reading, Oakford Social Club

Mon 11th Nov Southampton, Joiners

Tues 12th Nov Manchester, Gullivers

Wed 13th Nov Glasgow, Broadcast

Thurs 14th Nov Liverpool, Shipping Forecast

Fri 15th Nov Birmingham, Hare & Hounds

Sat 16th Nov Bristol, Start The Bus

Mon 18th Nov London, Birthdays

Thurs 21st Nov Brighton, The Hope

New Music

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We’ve got a bit of catching up to do in our new music round up – it’s been nearly two weeks since we made one of these posts, and we found a couple of other bits and pieces from when we were away a few weeks.

Man Ray Sky – Luma

Man Ray Sun have put up a video for their new track Luma, taken from their forthcoming EP Coreless, which comes out in November on Beatabet Records

Bunty – Multimos 6

Talking of Beatabet, Bunty released the sixth episode of her Multimos project a few weeks back. This time round it’s a free bandcamp download, so you can enjoy it even if you’ve got a tight budget.

Samuel Organ – Bay

The Physics House Band’s Samuel Organ has posted up a taster of his forthcoming album onto soundcloud with the track Bay. The track is a bit more chilled and a bit less aurally challenging than his previous solo releases, but doesn’t lose anything for it.

Lonesome Heights – Nagasaki

The new single by Lonesome Heights is a track that came out back in September while we were away, but we’re pleased to write about it now. Once you’re done with watching the video you can buy the track on iTunes.

Circ – Unself

The new track from Circ is called Unself and features vocals by Hane Laure.

Ez Stone – Moroccan Whiskey EP

Ez Stone’s Moroccan Whiskey EP is coming out next week on TLS Records – the new label set up by The Loft Sessions. For now, you can listen to the second track Old Man Soul on Bandcamp and pre-order the cd. The first hundred will be signed!

Waxwork Figurine – Peace With the World

Peace With The World is the new track from Waxwork Figurine. The first half is a little like some of Radiohead’s more electronic output, but then halfway through, the guitars kick in!

Eone – Dispersion

The new release on Numerology Records is another one which came out while we were on our holidays in September. Eone’s Dispersion EP has got deep house beats for the dance floor, and enough detail and ambience to make it worth a listen through headphones too.

Invokal, Asbest & The Paragraph Pirates – Yo Ho Ho

The new hip hop poetry from Invokal comes in a variety of different versions – Jungle Step, Glitch Hop, Electro Hop and Space Funk – and is available to download now on Bandcamp.

Moulettes – Songbird

Our last track in this mammoth roundup is my favourite from Moulette’s album The Bear’s Revenge. The band have just finished all of their touring and promotion for the record, and to put a close to that chapter are giving away the lovely Songbird as a free download.

Source New Music gallery – Traams & Teardrop Factory

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Last night we went along to the Brighton Dome Source New Music Night, but for one reason or the other we didn’t get along quite as early as we’d hoped, so we missed Last Heir and Cousin. We did get lots of photos of the other two acts – Teardrop Factory and last months Source cover stars Traams – and here they are.

(as usual, click on the pics to view large)

Drugs at the Green Door Store gallery – Grashopper, Bentcousin, The Bright Ones, Skirts

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On Saturday night we headed down to the Green Door Store for live music night Drugs. There were originally five bands on the bill, but Twins didn’t make it, but Grasshopper, Bentcousin, The Bright Ones and Skirts more than made up for it. Here’s our pics. As usual, click to view large:

Above Audio Live – Momotaro & Faux Flux

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Sometimes at this time of year, especially in the evenings, the seafront isn’t the most inviting of places but these days there’s a reason every Wednesday to head out that way. Above Audio have started holding regular live music nights, some run by the team there, some run by other promoters (we’ve been to a couple put on by Les Enfants Terribles). The main thing in common is that they’ve all had great local line ups.

Faux Flux

Last night we were treated to Momotaro and Faux Flux, two bands who’ve been on our list of acts to see for a few months now. We wrote about Faux Flux’s Come Alive EP earlier this year, and the band had been on the bill at a number of gigs we’ve been to (including most recently IYES last week at the Prince Albert) but for one reason or another hadn’t managed to catch them until last night. More fool us, because live they’re an even better prospect than in recorded form. With drumming as taut and lean as Demelza Mather’s there’s no need for a drum machine and although they’ve recently been touting for a third member to help them out with bass / keyboard duties Alex Ensoll seemed to have everything under control.

Momotaro

Headliners last night were Momotaro, who have been on our radar since the summer. Their electronic dub translated really well to a live setting with reverb drenched samples triggered on various keyboards and on the electronic drum kit. It’s no surprise that Audio had a decent PA which made the bottom end sound great but also left plenty of space for the r’n’b influenced vocals. Momotaro have got some great songs and a setup which not only works well, but is different enough to make a lasting impression. We came away last night thinking we might just have found our favourite new Brighton band of 2013.

Weekend Gig Picks

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Tonight we’re off to see Momotaro supported by Faux Flux at Above Audio, but before we do, here’s this weekend’s gig picks:

resonatorsThe big gig on Thursday night is Passenger. The Let Her Go singer is playing a sold out hometown gig at the Concorde 2 (actually he’s playing two, with the second next Monday, which is also sold out). Thursday’s other gigs which caught our eye were The Resonators playing at The Haunt, and Foreign Skin supporting Jungle at Sticky Mike’s.

rocksOn Friday night, Ancient Times launch their new single Nightschool at the Blind Tiger. Support comes from Shudder Pulps, Morning Smoke and Hot Glass. It’s also this week’s Brighton Rocks at Sticky Mike’s, with The Dials, Cat Fire Radio, 1914s and Broadbay on the line up.

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drugsFinally, on Saturday night, regular Green Door Store night Drugs returns after a summer break with a five band line up. For less than a pound a band, you get to see Grasshopper, Twin, Bentcousin, Skirts and The Bright Ones.

New Music – Electric Soft Parade, Poles Apart, Octopuses, Mojo Fins, British Sea Power

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There’s four new releases to tell you about this week, from some new bands, and some more established bands. So without further ado…

The Electric Soft Parade – The Sun Never Sets Around Here

The White brothers next single, put out to support their mini-tour later this month (which sadly doesn’t include a Brighton date at the time of writing) is Idiots opener The Sun Never Sets Around Here. There’s a home made video, and the track has been re-recorded, with a brand new guitar solo and a completely different second half.

The Mojo Fins – Introverts

The Mojo Fins third album is due for release next year. Before then they’re putting out Introverts, which is out on November 10th on Amazon Records

Poles Apart – Atlasless

Atlasless is the debut EP from new Brighton four piece Poles Apart. It features three tracks of atmospheric rock and is up on Bandcamp now as a name-your-price download.

Octopuses – Ghost in the House

Octopuses are lining up for the release their second single Ghost In The House. With a title like that, it could only be released on Halloween, when it’ll be available as a free download from Big Salad Records. Until then you can enjoy the second home made video of today’s round up.

British Sea Power – Monsters of Sunderland

Finally, British Sea Power have put out a video today of Monsters of Sunderland from their album Machineries of Joy, featuring the bears which are staples of their live sets. The video only went up today, so catch it while it’s fresh!

IYES at the Prince Albert / The New Union at the Blind Tiger live gallery

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Last night The New Union supported Let’s Buy Happiness at the Blind Tiger and IYES played their first headline show at the Prince Albert. We were torn – we’re fans of both bands – which should we go to? And then we figured that since The New Union were supporting and IYES were headlining, we should be able to make it to both.

When we first heard about the New Union gig, we read that they would be on at 8.15. On the day, we read on Facebook that it would be 8.30. We turned up at the gig to see set times that said 8.45, but the support act who was on before them didn’t get onstage until 8.50. In the end The New Union started just after 9.30, so we only caught a few of their songs before we headed to the Prince Albert. But those few songs sounded fantastic. Every time the New Union head into the studio, they come out sounding even better, taking everything they’ve learned and improving their live sound with it, and just recently they’ve been recording at Metway Studios with Matthew Twaites (of Electric Soft Parade, Milk & Biscuits, etc).

The normal career path for a new band is first to get support slots with other local bands, then headline your own small gigs, then get supports with bigger touring bands that visit. It’s testament to the strength of IYES demos that they managed to skip the first two stages, with all their gigs so far playing before more established national acts. As sods law would have it, the IYES gig was running late too, but that meant we got to catch Londoners Rivieras from the back of a packed room. When they were done, we took the opportunity to get to the front so we could make up for all of the photos that we didn’t take at the New Union gig. IYES were on top form, showcasing the demos that the crowd was familiar with as well as a brace of new tracks including the first play of their upcoming single Infinity.

Click pics to view large: