For 2013 I’ve got a grand plan to speak to a lot more of the people that we write about on the blog, to try and shift the balance away from opinion so much. If you don’t agree with us, that’s fair enough, but we still want to post up things that you might want to read. To kick this all off we caught up with Robert Fidora and Macaulay Hopwood, better known as Curxes, who not only featured in our Advent Calendar / end-of-year-list substitute, but also popped up in the Blog Sound of 2013 longlist, as well as the BBC / Hype Machine 2012 Zeitgeist list.
Last year’s Sea Monsters wasn’t curated by outsiders, but this year’s is. How did you come to be hosting an evening?
We have a really good relationship with One Inch Badge. They’re big supporters of the magazine through their advertising and we find it very easy to write about the gigs they put on as not only are there so many to choose from, they’re also very interesting up-and-coming bands. But I guess they asked us because we’re the only magazine that exclusively writes about the Brighton music scene.
Current Source cover stars Kins are second on the bill. Are headliners Written in Waters set for big things in 2013?
Essentially they could be absolutely huge or drive everyone mad. They’re not for everyone – it’s a very strange mix of styles, they’re kinda goth soul meets Pink Floyd – but the people that like them really love them. Kins are much easier to get you head around – they’re really powerful on stage but also very melodic. But I don’t think many bands would find it easy to follow Written In Waters – they’re so dramatic. Come and make up your mind. You really have to see them.
Who are SOURCE’s tips from the bands playing across the other nights?
I guess that you might be able to tell by the people who have been in the magazine, especially those that have been on the cover. Country rock band Holy Vessels recorded our song of 2012 and they’re every bit as good live as on record. Abi Wade plays the cello like no one you’ve ever seen – totally original – while AKDK and Physics House Band are both intense and intelligent bursts of noise, the former electronic and the latter jazzy. Other that that I’m most looking forward to seeing hip hop outfit Rum Committee for the first time.
If you could have got any Brighton band, past or present, to play your night who would you have chosen?
Tough question – I’d very much like to see one more gig by Gloria Cycles, so they would be on the bill. Nick Cave, obviously. I saw Grinderman at the King Alfred Centre so know how powerful he can be when he’s right in front of your face. And I guess I’d like to see The Maccabees play all the early songs they won’t play any more – in a room full of over excited teenagers, like their infamous gig at the Concorde. Finally I’d like to see Bat For Lashes’ first live incarnation – the all girl band – again. She was a delight in those early days. And still is, of course. That’s not a bad line up in anyone’s books.
Sea Monsters seems to have replaced Brighton Live as the local music festival. Why do you think that is?
I think the problem with Brighton Live – which was a brilliant idea – is that by the end it only attracted bands who weren’t already getting lots of gigs elsewhere. I was part of the board for a while and I pushed for more curated nights, something we did at Sticky Mike’s over three days as a SOURCE-branded event. I don’t want to say the rest of it was full of BIMM bands but… it was full of BIMM bands. That’s not so bad bit it isn’t representative of the Brighton scene as a whole. Brighton Live needed to tempt bands to be involved that were way too big to play for free because it was good for the community. But that never really happened. Sea Monsters works better, I think, because the bands are asked to play and already it’s seen as a badge of honour to be chosen. Because it sells out all the bands get paid, which is good. It’s a shame Brighton Live fell from its former glory because there were a lot of good people involved with very good intentions.
Our regular Weekend Gigs feature is back after a bit of a Christmas break. If you’re willing to brave the cold (and the snow if weather reports are to be believed), here’s what we’d recommend
Tonight’s recommendation is a new night called Night Sweats. “But Brighton Music Blog” I hear you cry, “it’s gone seven o clock, I should have made plans already”. Aha, but Night Sweats doesn’t start until 9pm. It’s a new night for people who want to stay out a bit later, and who don’t have to worry about work in the morning. It’s headlined by Elle Kaye who are onstage at 12:15. Support comes from Rosales, Saint Savanna and Classic Plastic. More info over on Facebook.
Friday night we’re recommending a gig just outside of Brighton, but it’s close enough that we’ll let them off. Derriere haven’t played a local gig for a while, so to make up for it they’re playing two sets at their gig. They’ll be raising the roof at the Ropetackle centre in Shoreham from 8pm. More info here.
Then Sunday our advice is a gig that you can’t buy a ticket for. Esben & The Witch are launching their fantastic new album “Wash The Sins Not Only The Face” (review coming soon!) at the Green Door Stoor, and the only way to get in is to pre-order the album, which is out next monday, from Resident.
The Hundredth Anniversary have announced their first 7″ release The Jump. Following on from their split cassette (with Tyrannosaurus Dead and Gum), and October’s Pressure Shere / Slip download, Jump will be backed with a track called 34, and another bonus download track, coming out on March 18th on Tiny Lights recordings.
I was thinking that January might be a bit of a quiet month for the blog, but I’ve found myself inundated with new music to share. In this post we’ve got stuff from new bands including Iyes, who have yet to release anything but are causing a bit of a storm with the first demo that they’ve put out there, to bands who’ve been around for a bit longer, like The Go! Team:
Iyes managed to get a mention on The Line of Best Fit on the strength of Lighthouse. A fantastic start which will hopefully translate into bigger things. Here’s the track in question along with a few remixes of it which are doing the rounds. We like this A LOT.
Next up is a new track from Verity Susman, formerly of krautrockers Electrelane, still sticking with the lock grooves, but more synth based and aimed at the dancefloor. It doesn’t sound a million miles away from Ladytron to our ears, and that’s no bad thing at all. There’s no info on a release date for this, but we’ll definitely be keeping you updated.
Then we have Gazelle Twin, covering The Wire’s Heartbeat. It’s a haunting dark ethereal track and it will appear on Gazelle Twin’s new Mammal EP, which is due to hit the shops on 28th January alongside a whole bunch of remixes.
The Go! Team have remixed Justin Velor’s track Galliano Rocks. No embedded Soundcloud available for this unfortunately, but you can give it a listen if you click here. It’s got a great classic Go! Team sound – relentless energy, lo fi guitars and bundles of joy.
Tyrannosaurus Dead are previewing Sadie, from their forthcoming 6 track “Pure // Apart” EP, coming out on Odd Box Records later this year. Keep your eyes on the blog tomorrow night for some more Tyrannosaurus Dead related news.
Finally, here’s Nick Williams with his new EP Anniversaries. If you like the sound of this, his band are headlining the Prince Albert next saturday (19th January)
Sea Monsters 3 is still a few weeks away yet, but to get us in the mood, they’ve put up a Soundcloud stream of the cd that they’re giving out to people who buy a week ticket. It features one track from each band who are playing, so if there’s anyone you haven’t heard of (which is still quite a few even for us), you can take a listen here:
That’s not all though. Over on Bandcamp, they’re GIVING AWAY downloads of the past two years compilations! There was some great tracks on there (Fear of Men’s Doldrums and Us Baby Bear Bones’ Rain still get a lot of plays around here):
This week the second ever Brighton Sofar session came to town.
For those who don’t know, Sofar Sounds is a House concert concept that has gone global with connections on four continents. They’ve held concerts in California, Brazil, Australia and across Europe amongst other places. But basically wherever they take place they’re still small intimate gigs featuring local bands and innovative music in people’s homes, which are video’d and photographed and seen globally via their website.
Small is beautiful. And the latest Brighton incarnation took place in the large front room of a flat on West Street, and featured three bands playing four songs each, an artist-in-residence (below) drawing the event along with an array of photographers, videographers, and a room full of pretty young things, all sitting on the floor enjoying the spectacle.
First up was I am Amity, the persona of multi-instrumentalist Amy Forrester, who wound her simple songs around a fascinating array of loops, moving from electronic drums to guitars and back again. She made a joke about her mother liking best her song about one night stands. She was most endearing.
Next came the mighty Laish, who wowed the room with Danny Green’s wry lively lyrics backed by a dynamic four piece band with the original combination of violin, clarinet, bass and drums. They played three songs from their forthcoming new album Obituaries and then ended with We Speak The Mantra from their first album, with the band dropping their instruments to accompany Dan with vocals and hand-claps and knee-slaps. It was enchanting. An excellent band, a favourite of this blog and highly recommended in any body’s living room.
By the end of the night, the packed room was hot and sweaty. Last up were the gypsy folk of Apples and Eve, led by the charming Eve Rose. This five-piece band laid down some excellent funky folk which kept the room chilled and feet-tapping. Eve’s vocals were honey-smooth, and her songs reminiscent of a band like Beirut. Another fine local act that are worth checking out.
And then it was over, until the next one. Sofar sounds have a winning formula – small intimate gigs in people’s homes. This blog for one looks forward to seeing how the Brighton set up progresses. Or maybe the Brazilian one, if we’re lucky eh?
Three bands, each with a free exclusive track to give away. How’s that for a nice late Christmas present?
House of Hats new single Sewing Machine is available as a free mp3 by signing up to their mailing list, or over at bandcamp. It’s a lovely thing, quite minimal, with their trademark close harmonies, simple acoustic guitar and chiming piano, and it was produced by the band and Ally Young from Mirrors.
Abi Wade has just given away a free download of live favourite Charade, recorded in the same session as her recent Heavy Heart 7″. There was a bit of time at the end of the session to record what’s effectively a live version of the track, and this is what’s been sent out. You’ll need to sign up to her mailing list in order to get the link, so unfortunately there’s embedded preview here. If you’ve heard either of Abi’s releases so far, you’ll know what to expect – haunting vocals, cello, and percussion. Highly recommended.
The last track, Circulation, is from The Muel, and is also available as a free download via their mailing list (which you can sign up to on the front page of their website). Sam Walker’s band aren’t just giving away the one track though – they’ll be giving away a track every month this year to subscribers. January’s track is a jazzy instrumental taken from the Rough in the Bedroom album, which came out over ten years ago and is now long out of print, so this is probably your only chance to get hold of this. I look forward to hearing what else they’ve got in store for us over the next twelve months. The Muel will be supporting Jaime Regan at the Brunswick on 31st January.
We’ve come across a bumper treasure trove of videos from Brighton Bands over the past few days. Maybe everyone was saving them for the new year, maybe it’s just coincidence that they’ve all turned up at the same time. No matter – here they all are:
It seems like it’s only been a matter of weeks since Catherine Ireton played the last of her four Treasure Tracks gigs which lead us through the backstage warren behind the Dome before playing an intimate gig in the Corn Exchange. This month Catherine returns and is going backstage again, this time to the Theatre Royal.
As with Treasure Tracks, What Is It About That Night? isn’t a straightforward gig. Rather than take to the stage in the Theatre Royal, Catherine will be performing in the dressing rooms and other backstage areas – parts of the theatre not normally seen by the public. And rather than a normal performance where there’s a clear distinction between artist and audience, Catherine is collaborating with Brighton based theatre company Root Experience to make the night more interactive.
Catherine Ireton
What Is It About That Night is on at the Theatre Royal on 17th and 24th of January. Tickets are £10 and are available from the Theatre Royal Box Office, Resident Records or online
Brighton Music Blog 