Radio Anorak / Rememberer

Posted on 17/02/2025 by brightonmusicblog

It feels like only last week that Radio Anorak played their debut gig. Back in the middle of last December the band first arrived on stage, supporting the New Eves, and then there was a second gig in January supporting Big Long Sun, both times joined by a handful of other musicians drawn from the two bands that they’ve supported. Fast forward to last week and a single, Sword of Moses, appeared without any prior announcements, or even any press to introduce the band, and now today, less than three months after they first appearance, and album has dropped. Rememberer was recorded over a number sessions in a cabin in Lewes – in just over half an hour it takes in drum breaks, field recordings, synthesisers, strings, found instruments and half sung poetry. It’s not quite like anything else – at it’s most energetic it stretches to Krautrock, but Mother Death (Father Beast) is beautiful folk, and other tracks are experimental art pieces or ideas recorded quickly before they evaporate.

You’re tuned to Radio Anorak. Don’t touch that dial.

Rememberer is out now to buy as a cassette or download at Bandcamp, or at the usual streaming services

Hope & Ruin Tenth Birthday, headlined by The Four Horsemen (or was it Lime Garden?)

Posted on 15/02/2025 by brightonmusicblog

Happy Birthday Hope & Ruin! The venue in it’s current form opened it’s doors for the first time ten years ago this week, and the birthday celebrations kicked off last night with a free gig fronted by the mysteriously named Four Horsemen. A few crumbs had been dished out on social media that the previously unheard of band was actually local heroes Lime Garden, who’ve had their heads down recently working on new material. Their set was a first airing for some of these tracks as well as some old favourites, and – since it was valentines day – a cover of Careless Whisper where they were joined by Alfie Beer (from goodbye, formerly in Fliptop Head) on trombone. They were ably supported by Ladylike and Harper for a packed out show at the venue which has more than established itself as a corner of the local scene. The fun continues tonight with another free gig featuring How Long You Been Driving, Wimp, Francis Pig and That Band Called Susan.

Brighton Rocks #42 : Opal Mag

Posted on 14/02/2025 by brightonmusicblog

On a bright but chilly day earlier this month we popped down to the beach with Opal Mag to chat about Brighton and also her new single Love to See You Shine, which is out today:

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
Being able to live by the sea for sure! It’s so calming. Also, being able to walk everywhere within an hour, it’s a city but with a small town feel.

Who are your favourite local bands?
I think Lime Garden, CIEL, Ellis D, Hutch and Moon Idle are all great, also goodbye, who are supporting me at the end of the month at the Hope and Ruin. There’s so many amazing bands that come out of Brighton, it’s hard to choose!

What’s the best venue?
Green Door is a classic but I was really impressed with the new venue Alphabet, it looked like a speakeasy.

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
I like to rotate between Brighton Electric and Southlanes Studios to rehearse, but just recently I had a great time recording in 17b studios in Kemptown.

What’s the best club?
I don’t go clubbing but I like a Hope and Ruin/Presuming Ed’s or a Great Eastern DJ night.

What’s the best record shop?
I sadly don’t have a record player but I’m dying to get one. I went to a live show at Family Records the other night which was super fun!

Where’s the best places to eat?
I’m obsessed with O’Shio, Goemon and Shaanxi.

What’s the best pub?
Great Eastern is a good vibe or The Basketmakers.

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Reggae guy, he always walks around with a big boombox and cool outfit.

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
I don’t think I’ve ever had one, I’d be running to the dentist for a broken tooth repair.

Love to See You Shine is out now at all the usual streaming places. Opal Mag plays a launch gig at the Hope & Ruin on 28th February supported by goodbye and Grace Equi

Brighton Rocks #41 : JP from Hutch

Posted on 17/01/2025 by brightonmusicblog

What’s the best thing about Brighton?
The people, the vibrant music and art scene, the seaside, Brunswick Square on a sunny afternoon if you need a nap

Who are your favourite local bands?
There’s no way I can narrow this down so here’s a bunch: Tinman, Ladylike, Lambrini Girls, Maximilian, Soft Top, Frances Mistry, Ideal Living, Telecom, COWZ, The New Eves, Arjun Nala, Flip Top Head, Goodbye, Trip Westerns, Stanford Family Band, Ellis D, Van Zon, Comforts, Attic O’Mattic, Harper, Big Long Sun, Arcadia Residential… i really feel like I could go on forever

What’s the best venue?
Green Door Store will forever be in my heart, and I always enjoy a night at the folklore rooms

What’s the best rehearsal space / studio?
Under The Bridge has a truly wonderful community of people who make that place a hub for all kinds of music enthusiasts

What’s the best club?
I F***ing Hate Clubbing, surely

What’s the best record shop?
You’ll likely find my rifling through the crates at Across The Tracks. But also the record selection in Puck is very good.

Where’s the best place to eat?
Riccis deli

What’s the best pub?
The Great Eastern, when there’s a vinyl DJ in the corner

Who’s your favourite Brighton celebrity?
Alfie Beer

When was the last time you had any Brighton Rock?
Every time I go to an Acid Box DJ set

The brand new Hutch single Rustle is out today, available to stream at all the usual places. Next week the band head out on a co-headline tour with Trip Westerns, playing at the Komedia on 31st January

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 1 – Van Zon / Cannon Fodder

Posted on 20/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

There’s been times this year when it’s felt like I’ve been their biggest cheerleader, but I won’t make any kind of apology for that because there’s nobody quite like Van Zon, who have successfully mixed up post rock, folk and a bit of neo-classical to come up with a genre all of their own. They were the first gig I saw in 2024, my most seen band this year, and they’re looking to be one of the first bands I see next year too. The highlight for me was October’s Hidden Herd gig where they showcased the songs that they were just about to record for their debut EP (due to be released sometime next year), all of which felt like a step up from the high bar that they had already displayed. If you haven’t listened to Cannon Fodder yet, settle down and strap in for an epic eight minutes.

1 : Van Zon / Cannon Fodder

2 : Flip Top Head / 1st July 2006
3 : Cate Ferris & Champion Fever / Blinkers
4 : Ideal Living / Roam
5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter
6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 2 – Flip Top Head / 1st July 2006

Posted on 19/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

When I first heard 1st July 2006 it stopped me in my tracks – the combination of the non-standard time signature, Bertie’s spoken word segments which sometimes get overwhelmed by the rise and fall of the rich backing, alongside Bowie’s emotional vocals was a heady mix. It still moves me now – to cram so much into just four minutes is no mean feat.

2 : Flip Top Head / 1st July 2006

3 : Cate Ferris & Champion Fever / Blinkers
4 : Ideal Living / Roam
5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter
6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 3 – Cate Ferris & Champion Fever / Blinkers

Posted on 18/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

About fifteen years ago I started taking my camera along to gigs – it could have been a fad but at the end of a gig at Latest Music Bar the support act asked if they could have a copy of my photos, which might just have been the spark of encouragement that has made me carry on for all this time. After her gig at the Rosehill in November this year Cate Ferris once again got in touch to ask for a copy of the photos from that night too. The first time I saw her live, it was just Cate and an acoustic guitar on stage, but as the years have rolled by she introduced looping pedals, samples and electronics. Back in 2009, Steve Baker was the guitarist in The Woo!Worths, and he has made the journey to music production over time putting out releases under the name Champion Fever. Somehow Blinkers is their very first collaboration – apparently Steve hadn’t even been to one of Cate’s gigs before this year – but what a banger it is.

3 : Cate Ferris & Champion Fever / Blinkers

4 : Ideal Living / Roam
5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter
6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 4 – Ideal Living / Roam

Posted on 17/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

How to describe Ideal Living? In an interview they described themselves as PostSpook Knitwear Rock, but maybe they were taking the piss. They cite Tom Waits and Ennio Morricone as influences, but they remind me at times of the bits of Arab Strap I love where the intensity of the music is matched by lyrics that are unafraid to push boundaries. They take their name from Joy Division’s first release An Ideal For Living, and you can see that Billy Marsh’s role as front man is inspired by Ian Curtis. The rest of the band are a Who’s Who from some of Brighton’s other great upcoming groups, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when one of these groups breaks through (and it will be when, not if).
Roam is a diatribe about how man has imposed himself on the countryside, inspired by the view from the top of the cliffs near the Marina looking down over Brighton, it’s closing refrain of hushed chants of “Concrete and plastic and silicon” electrifying the audience whenever I’ve seen it performed live.

4 : Ideal Living / Roam

5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter
6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 5 – MEMORIALS / Lamplighter

Posted on 16/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

Taken from their official debut album Memorial Waterslides – last year’s Music for Films doesn’t count because it was, as the title suggests, soundtrack works – Memorials described Lamplighter as “the poppiest song on the album”. You can’t argue with that, but I’d love to see the effect that the swirling organs (they built their own Mellotron for the track) and driving krautrock drums might have on someone who’s spent 2024 on a diet of Charli XCX and Taylor Swift. It was a toss up for me as to whether to put Lamplighter or A Guaranty of Sanity into my end of year list, but including a track tucked towards the end of a relatively low key EP release might sound like I was trying a bit too hard. The Centre Pompidou EP does deserve a mention though, since it includes a track which unlocks a Memorials easter egg which has probably passed most listeners by: The album, Memorial Waterslides, includes the track Memorial Waterslide II – three and a half minutes of uncompromising free jazz. The EP has a completely different track called Memorial Waterslide, made up of funky hip hop loops, which sounds wholly unrelated to it’s namesake. Play them both at the same time though, and you get a fantastic new psych track, much much greater than the sum of it’s parts.

5 : MEMORIALS / Lamplighter

6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake
7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator

Brighton Music Blog Top 20 2024 : 6 – Hutch / Ice on the Lake

Posted on 13/12/2024 by brightonmusicblog

With immaculate timing, Hutch put out the second single from their Smile & Wave EP in what felt like the coldest week of winter back in February, and since then they’ve had a hectic year of live dates, the peak of which was surely headlining Green Door Store’s 234 Festival in September. Their more recent gigs have started to include some new material, so hopefully we’ll see a new release from the band before long.

6 : Hutch / Ice on the Lake

7 : Lime Garden / Pop Star
8 : Thomas Ducout / Feminina
9 : Jamie Broughton / The Sound
10 : David Best / Terms & Conditions
11 : Welly / Shopping
12 : Ellis D / Shakedown
13 : Ladylike / Horse’s Mouth
14 : AK/DK / Nobody Shouts
15 : The New Eves / Astrolabe
16 : Projector / Tastes Like Sarah
17 : Penelope Trappes / Sleep
18 : Lambrini Girls / Big Dick Energy
19 : Holiday Ghosts / Sublime Disconnect
20 : Plantoid / Modulator